Home

user manual

1. Sometimes the individual fixtures of a group are positioned differently so the beams all move in different directions when you manipulate the joystick You can solve this in the patch with PAN inverse TILT inverse and PT swap Press PAN and TILT to activate deactivate the joystick in the programmer You can also use these buttons to lock the pan or tilt action of the joystick Use C F to toggle between coarse and fine movement The joystick also has a built in button Press the joystick down to bring the fixtures back to their home position library defaults for PAN and TILT 5 2 Operation in cue run mode The C F button becomes the BPM record button in cue run mode Pressing this button at a certain tempo will cause the sequences in BPM mode to follow this tempo The TILT button becomes the step button in cue run mode Pressing this button will cause sequences in manual mode to advance one step Xciter user manual 27 Desk light operation Chapter 6 Desk light operation If you have a desk light installed you can adjust its intensity by holding down SHIFT while you turn the top right jog wheel Xciter user manual 29 Multiple shows Chapter 7 Multiple shows In theory Xciter can store up to 160 shows The number of shows Xciter can actually store depends on the content of each show So in fact it depends on how much you program in each show When you use the Xciter for the first time it loads show
2. The default fade snap mode is global for all physical channels inside the selected logical channel so you only need to do this action on one of the physical channels All other DMX channels inside the selected logical channel will be set to the same mode Note The physical channel needs to be patched before you can set its mode Some dimmer models may have inverted channels You can also invert individual physical channels to have normal control over them on the console To invert a channel a Hold Invert while you press the bump button under the address of the physical channel you wish to invert Example Do this for channel 101 101 101 1128 Inverted channel Xciter user manual 49 Patch Note the physical channel needs to be patched before you can set its mode 7 Each physical channel has three parameters Test value this value is of no consequence to programming It is merely a value that is applied to the DMX output to test the presence of a device This is very useful when patching a rig of PAR cans Because Xciter puts this test value on the output you can see which PAR you are patching to the selected fader With this parameter you can set the intensity of the dimmer when testing it We put it on 128 because some people may use 110V PAR lamps on 220V dimmer packs High limits By default this value is set to 255 the highest possible value for a physical channel If you set this parameter to a lower value for a ce
3. Xciter user manual Effect generator constant speed When applying a BPM shape you have instantly got a modulating generator that has a BPM dependent speed Here is how the speed of the different BPM shapes is set e Bpm 2 recorded BPM rate divided by 2 e Bpm 4 recorded BPM rate divided by 4 e Bpm 8 recorded BPM rate divided by 8 e Bpm 16 recorded BPM rate divided by 16 Xciter user manual 83 Effect generator examples Chapter 11 Effect generator examples The most powerful feature of the Xciter is its effect generator You can use up to 255 effect generators in a scene or step They can be applied to any control channel In the following examples you will see that you can create dimmer and color chases in a single scene Some of these chases would be almost impossible to create with sequences With the easy to use effect parameters you can fully tweak the effect or make an existing effect take on a totally different behavior Of course you can still use sequences to do very specific chases like moving across tables 11 1 How to create a circle Pe Os Ne ez Select at least 2 fixtures of the same type Make sure the beams of the selected fixtures are visible Open the dimmer DIM and shutter SHUT or STROB Activate the PAN and TILT channels and adjust them so you have a clear projection Example on the floor You will get the best results if you put all beams in one spot We also recommend using moving mirror fixtures
4. Note The show and patch files are restored by default because the options are checked when you first use the backup restore You can choose which information to include in the restore operation by checking unchecking the options on the right hand side of the application window 17 5 Offline features Pe Os zz 114 The offline features offer some useful tools to view the DMX output and export information from the console Make sure Xciter is connected to the PC Make sure Xciter is booted Select the offline features section Feel free to explore the different tools under the tab pages Xciter user manual Xciter Specifications Physical Dimensions length x width x heat 483 x 265 x 120mm 19 x 10 4 x 4 7 in WEIGH sites eege ees 4 65 kg 10 3 Ibs Power supply Operating tanges EE 90 250V AC 50 60Hz Maximum power Processing power e High end Infineon micro controller at 40MHz e 2MB of fast working memory e 8MB of high endurance storage memory e Separate processor for IO handling Interfaces e 1x DMX in 5 pin XLR male e 1x DMX out 3 amp 5 pin XLR female e 1x MIDI in DIN5 female e 1x MIDI out DIN5 female e 1x MIDI through DIN5 female e 1x USB slave port USB B e 1x audio in 5mm mono jack e 1x internal microphone e 1x IIC expansion port DIN5 female Controls e Soft power button with 2 sec switch off security e Master fader to adjust general light intensity e Master flash button e Black out butto
5. ODNo BO Tilt Invo P T Swapo Select Model DMX 1 ONo Master Pan Invo Xciter user manual 41 Patch 4 Press ENT to confirm the DMX address Xciter then patches the fixtures sequentially under the selected number keys starting from the specified DMX address Xciter will also take into account the order of selection The Dipswitch settings on the fader LCD are useful for addressing your fixtures in the lighting rig You can even rotate the Dipswitch display by pressing the bump button under the Dipswitch settings If you cannot find the necessary fixture type in Xciter s library you will either have to use the library editor to create one on the fly or use the PC application to download one via USB 5 Depending on the orientation of the patched fixture on the rig you can inverse the pan inverse the tilt and swap pan and tilt This is a global setting for the fixture to make pan tilt control with the joystick easier As you will see later in this manual you can still invert channels for your show in the programmer Press the softkeys next to the options to toggle them on off TILT inverse PAN inverse PAN TILT swap Le 6 You can choose to exclude a device from master and or blackout Exclude from master means the dimmer or shutter of the fixture is not affected by the master fader Exclude from blackout means the blackout button does not affect the dimmer or shutter of the fixture Press the softkey next to the o
6. Press any button to continue 7 Press ESC to return to the advanced setup 8 6 2 MIDI Key association These settings are only useful when you link a MIDI device to Xciter s MIDI input or when you use MIDI to master slave consoles MIDI notes can operate any key on the front panel except the power button Xciter user manual 57 Advanced setup 2 The MIDI settings you make here are not the same as the ones you make during playback In the following steps you will create links between MIDI notes and keys In the advanced playback menu you create links between MIDI notes and cues or MIDI notes and playbacks The MIDI commands you set in this dialog have priority over the cue or playback commands The backup file with factory defaults that comes with the PC application contains a default MIDI key association Press Midi key assoc in the advanced setup Midi note Midi ch 0 al1l O Show note Record There are two ways to input a note 1 Send the note through MIDI in Example hit a key on a MIDI keyboard 2 Input the channel and note numbers yourself 8 6 3 58 a Press Midi note b Use the top right scroll wheel to adjust the current value You can also press CLEAR to clear out the current value and input a new value using the general purpose number keys 1 10 10 being the 0 Press ENT to confirm or ESC to cancel c Upon ENT Xciter will show the currently associated key t
7. The cue serves as a container to combine several show elements in order to launch and run them simultaneously in parallel Xciter allows you to combine one scene called the background scene and four sequences into a cue With 8 page buttons and 20 number buttons you can launch 160 cues directly from the front panel The cue comes with a wide variety of playback features e Activate deactivate background scene e Activate deactivate each sequence separately e Sequence trigger internal manual audio BPM e Sequence run mode forward backward bounce random one shot freeze and one shot release e Comprehensive audio settings e Quick link to playback bank e Assign background scenes playback scenes and sequences live These features are described below 3 2 2 Playback With the cue you can launch and run up to 5 show elements simultaneously using the right side of the console You already have a great deal of control over the show with the four sequences that you can 18 Xciter user manual The Xciter philosophy start stop individually in each cue However many people will find the degree of control on the left side of the console even more interesting Xciter can contain up to 160 banks of 6 playback faders Of course only one bank 6 faders is visible at any one time as illustrated below With these controls you can launch another 6 sequences on top of whatever is running in the cue The sequences you launch with the pl
8. 14 1 Edit menu from default 2 222 Here en anid dia acted tet 95 14h Edit e He 95 141 2 Edit background scene aan tania ie 95 14 1 3 Edit Preset 2 12 2 HH TE ee 95 14 2 Quick edit during SHOW nn 95 14 21 Edt CUS SegUENC EEN 95 14 2 2 Edit background scene 96 14 2 3 Edit playback sequence nsii ien aaier a a a a i 96 Chapter 15 Run mode features ssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeneeeeeeeeeeeeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeneees 97 1T Basit Cue didog BEE 97 15 1 1 Activate deactivate seuences nnana 97 15 1 2 Sequence trigger and step mode 4 2440nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 98 15 4231 Internal ge e TEE 98 19 1 2 2 Manualttiggera EE 99 UO D None NO gga EE 99 E E due E 99 15 1 2 le Te Ar ie e E WEE 99 15 1 2 6 One shot freeze step mode eens eeeaeeeeaeeteeeeeeeaaeeeeaaeseeeeeseaeeesaeeseeeeesaas 99 15 1 2 7 One shot release step mode ce eeeeceeeeee cent eeeeeeeeeeeseeeeeceaaeeeeaaeseeeeeseaeeesaeeteeeeeeaas 99 15 2 Extended cue dialog EE 99 15 2 1 Add replace background Scene essssseessessieseseesisesiesnstiestintttntnnnstnnnstnnsnnnntnnnenn nt 100 15 2 2 Add replace E 100 15 2 3 Remove BG scenes and or sequences from CUe 101 15 2 4 Assign sequences tO faders 0 00 eeceece ce ceeeceeeeceeeee cae eeeaaeeeeneeeeeaeeseaaesdeneesneeeeeaeeeeaaeeees 101 15 2 5 Link a playback bank to a CUG erraten ires ti eren eE e aE aN eanne 102 UE ee Eed Lu TEE 102 15 3 Stor
9. Press the left softkey next to DIM to bring up the shape list and select AudioS from the list When you select the new shape the original dimmer chase from the example will stop running Make sure you have a beat loop or music with a steady beat running to demonstrate the effect Gradually increase the swing parameter with the corresponding fader and see what happens The more swing you give the wider the dimmers should open up With the swing you actually set the audio volume for that channel from 0 100 The dimmers should open up with the audio beat 7 Set the Fdlay or fixture delay to a very low value like 4 and see what happens The dimmers should open with a small delay per fixture when the beat comes in Remember from the console installation that you have 4 audio bands These same bands occur in the shape list as well e AudioS 60Hz e Audiol 400Hz e AudioM 1 2kHz e Audio 12 5kHz Xciter user manual 81 Effect generator 10 9 How to use the MIDI feature You can put the value of a MIDI note itself on a logical channel To use this feature you obviously need to attach a device that can send MIDI notes to the Xciter see MIDI connection Example a midi keyboard Make the dimmer chase from Effect generator examples on page 86 to start with but stay in the effects dialog instead of pressing ESC There should be a square wave running on DIM in generator 11 Make sure DIM is still selected they should have t
10. for experienced users only Press Advanced in the setup menu to go to the advanced setup DMX Config Midi key assoc Press ESC to leave this menu 8 6 1 DMX Config The standard DMX refresh rate of the Xciter is 33 Hz Some fixtures may not work at this rate In this case you need to adjust the DMX timings 1 Press DMX Config in the advanced setup 2 Press MBB to adjust the Mark Before Break length Use the arrow keys or the top right jog wheel to modify the value Press ENT to keep the new value ESC to decline and return to the previous value 3 Press BREAK to adjust the Break length Use the arrow keys or the top right jog wheel to modify the value Press ENT to keep the new value ESC to decline and return to the previous value 4 Press MAB to adjust the Mark After Break length Use the arrow keys or the top right jog wheel to modify the value Press ENT to keep the new value ESC to decline and return to the previous value 5 Press CHSPACE to adjust the space between channels Use the arrow keys or the top right jog wheel to modify the value Press ENT to keep the new value ESC to decline and return to the previous value If you want to restore the values to factory default press the SM bounce button below the label Deflt 6 Press STORE if you wish to store the new DMX settings Xciter will confirm the new values with the message DMX config stored Press any key
11. press ENT again to confirm Or hold CLEAR until all characters are deleted Use the general purpose number keys to input the new name Press ENT to confirm your new name Upon confirmation Xciter stores all the scenes in the editor to the sequence in memory and assigns it to the selected cue button and sequence slot If you are using the same sequence a lot in the show store and assign it only once to conserve memory You can assign it to other cue buttons in run mode see Extended cue dialog in Run mode features on page 99 If you store and assign the same sequence to multiple buttons instead Xciter will store a new file for each of those buttons which is a waste of memory 13 1 2 Assign directly to playback fader 1 2 In the store dialog press the softkey Pbpage with the arrow coming from Sequence Use the centre top jog wheel to scroll through the playback pages The current page number is displayed in the main LCD Press a bump button under an empty playback fader to select that position Press ENT to confirm Xciter suggests a default name If you agree to this name press ENT again to confirm Or hold CLEAR until all characters are deleted Use the general purpose number keys to input the new name Press ENT to confirm your new name Xciter user manual 91 Storing to memory Upon confirmation Xciter stores all the scenes in the editor to the sequence in memory and assigns it to the selecte
12. 1 10 to input numbers 10 being the 0 Use CLEAR and LOAD to delete characters and insert blanks respectively Press ENT to store the macro ESC to cancel 12 2 Recall an effect macro 1 Press Eff macro in the advanced menu of the scene sequence editor Xciter presents the entire list of effect macros Use the top right jog wheel to scroll through the list Locate the effect macro you wish to recall Press the softkey on the right side of the macro s name to select it Note The devices you select when you recall the macro do not have to be the same ones you used to create the macro Xciter searches out the logical channels that correspond to ones stored in the macro 12 3 Important to know The effect macro only stores effect parameters on a channel basis It does not store fixture information like fixture order and fixture delay because the macros are fixture independent Once you have recalled the macro you can still do all the fine tuning by pressing Effects in the advanced menu of the scene sequence editor Example You can re apply fixture delay because the effect macro does not store that information Xciter user manual 89 Effect macros The effect macros can also store channels without effect parameters You only need to select them in the effect dialog before storing This is a useful extra to make programming even quicker Example When you include the dimmer shutter in the macro you don t need to
13. 1 desk light e 1 training DVD that also includes PC software 1 1 Naming conventions used in this manual The following conventions are used in this user manual x Key with label x x Soft key with label x Xciter user manual 7 Introduction 1 2 Safety This product presents risks of lethal or severe injury due to electric shock Read this manual before powering or installing the console follow the safety precautions listed below and observe all warnings in this manual and printed on the console If you have questions about how to operate the console safely please contact your Martin dealer or call the Martin 24 hour service hot line at 45 70 200 201 or 1 954 858 1800 Warnings Always ground earth the console electrically Use only a source of AC power that complies with local building and electrical codes and has both overload and ground fault earth fault protection To reduce the risk of fire or electric shock do not expose this appliance to rain or moisture Refer any service operation not described in this manual to a qualified technician Do not modify the console or install other than genuine Martin parts The Xciter is not for domestic use Use the device only as described Do not operate the device if any cover is removed damaged or deformed Immediately repair or replace damaged power cords There are no user serviceable parts inside refer all service to a qualified technician To reduc
14. 101 after startup You can see the current show number in the intro screen The second number next to the show number indicates the current patch that is attached to the show Later you will see that you can attach another patch to the current show 7 1 Select show 1 Press Show in the intro screen 2 Select a show by using page keys 1 8 for the first digit and general purpose keys 1 20 for the second and third digits in the show s number Example 102 Press ENT to confirm or ESC if you wish to cancel and return to the original show Upon confirmation Xciter loads the selected show and returns to the intro screen If you have not selected another patch for the show before Xciter uses the same patch number as the show number that you have just selected Show 1 02 A Martin Professional Copyright 2003 Show 102 102 Setup 7 2 Remove show 1 Press Show in the intro screen 2 Use page keys 1 8 and general purpose keys 1 20 to select the show you wish to delete Example 102 Show 1 02 CH Xciter user manual 31 32 Multiple shows 3 Press CLEAR to delete show 1 02 B Are you sure No 4 Press Yes to confirm No to cancel 5 Press ESC to return to the intro screen Xciter user manual Setup menu Chapter 8 Setup menu The setup menu is only accessible from the start up screen If the Xciter is not in programmer mode it will ask for the password X5
15. About physical channels and logical channels You will see the terms physical channel and logical channel a lot in this manual You need to know what they mean to better understand this manual Physical channels or DMX channels are the channels as they occur on the DMX output They start at channel 1 and end at channel 512 Channel 0 is reserved for special purposes which are not discussed in this manual Logical channels are the channels you use to control a particular fixture or group of fixtures if they share the same DMX address For reasons of convenience when this manual mentions channels it generally refers to the logical channels you use to control a selected device If there is a danger of confusion this manual specifies which type of channel is referred to Example CH001 dimmer channel 1 is on channel 480 Example Use fader 1 to set the value of CH001 to 128 In the above examples the fixture s logical channel CH001 is patched to physical channel 480 on the controller 8 2 4 Fixture patch Each fixture type has its own set of logical channels which are described in a fixture definition internal library DMX channels Martin MX 4 fixture type C com Cl coawi logical channels RES Be 26 pur 27 petso A fixture on a DMX link occupies its logical channel 1 the DMX address or start address you specify in the patch plus the channels immediately above t
16. Operator le EE 54 84 1 3 DUMMY ue 54 8 4 2 Changing user modes A 54 8 4 2 1 From programmer to other 54 8 4 2 2 From other to programmer 55 8 4 3 PASSWONG EE 55 8 5 RE Le CEET 56 BLS De frag WEE 56 E lu E EE 56 8 6 Adv anced setupi TEE 57 82621 DMX CON EE 57 876 2 MID Key ASSOCIATION eredete e EAE EEEE EA OKEE E LAE TANE NEANS eae ete 57 8 6 3 Midi Mee EE 58 8 7 Joystick CAlDratiOn enc geed KE LEE a en EAE AE O e 60 8 8 Test Hannes A vac cet E A E A EN E O E E degen delle 61 8 8 1 Key Fader test rennen is ande 61 8 8 1 1 KOy teste nk ae eis Lan 61 8 8 1 2 Fader and Joystick Test 61 8 81 93 BIO 61 TEE Eech Sees a a NETTER EIN a a 62 Chapter 9 Program features naar ana 63 9 1 Select deselect device niiair tanier isoaunenorai tandia aoi anaandaa adada kadadian ia iaaiiai ae 63 9 2 Select deselect range ccccccecccecseeceeneeceeeeeceaeeeeaaeseeneeecaaesseaaesdeaeeseaeeesaaeseeaeesseeeesaeeeeeaeeseneeee 63 9 3 Selection behavior EE 63 9 31 le 63 EE 63 9 4 Device groups a 2 Hesse E ES ege ENEE eege ege 64 9 5 Fixture or Dimmer Information 64 9 6 TNE Programmer zueigen ee deed beet on Edge ebe EE eege 64 9 6 1 Active versus transparent channels c ccccecceceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeeeeaaeeeeeeeesaeeesaeeseneeees 64 9 6 2 Handling logical channele eee eeeeaeeseneeeeeaeeesaaeeeeaeeeseaeeesaeeseeeseneeee 65 9 6 3 Switching between DMX and percentage values ssssssesrresrrssirssiresir
17. S ST 12025 The basic functions of the editor e Insert scenes before current Xciter user manual 67 Program features e Add scenes behind last e Modify scene and fade time e Modify fade curve e Toggle DMX percentage display CH Scene 00 00 Effects Invert Eff macro Preview Fan Ctrl Lamps Copy Paste The advanced functions of the editor e Effect generator e Effect generator macros e Fan Control Copy Paste functions Invert logical channel Preview sequence Lamp procedures o Lamp on o Lamp off o Lamp Reset 9 7 1 Toggle DMX percentage display Press the top left softkey in the editor to toggle the programmer between DMX and percentage display of values When the programmer displays percentage values the symbol appears in the top corners of the fader LCD 9 7 2 Add Insert and modify scenes When you start from scratch there are no scenes present in the editor The scene counter is at 00 00 1 Create your first scene in the programmer If you have not learned how to use the programmer now is the time to do it See The programmer on page 64 2 Press Add to lock the first scene in the editor Add ST 1 0 S Lin fade PT ILL O S SEQ Insert Scene 00 00 The scene counter increments to 01 01 The first number indicates the currently selected step the second number the total number of steps 68 Xciter user manual Program features You need to activate
18. Strobe Extra 1 amp Extra 2 CH 001 3 Use the arrow keys or the top right jog wheel to scroll through the 512 DMX channels and locate the ones that are occupied by your device Example A DMX controlled smoke machine on channel 500 and 501 Xciter user manual 51 Patch 52 As explained in the introduction you can patch two sets of values to the button ON values and OFF values The ON values appear when the DA button is pressed the OFF values appear when it is released When you enter the patch the ON values are shown by default Press ON values or OFF values to swap between the display of ON L and OFF values Use the bump button under the DMX address to add remove the physical channel to from the patch By default the ON value of a channel is 255 and the OFF value is 0 Example Add channels 501 and 502 Use the faders to change values To fine tune a value you can hold the bump button while you turn the centre top scroll wheel There are two operating modes for the DA button toggle and flash The default mode is flash When the button is in flash mode the ON values appear as long as you hold the DA button The OFF values appear when you release the DA button When the button is in toggle mode you can swap between the ON and OFF values each time you press the DA button Press Toggle or Flash to change the mode Press ESC to return to the DA patch menu You can choose to patch another DA button now The procedu
19. Xciter allows you to access the setup menu immediately 1 Press Access level in the setup menu lt lt ACCESS CONTROL gt gt Programmerm Operatoro Password DummyoO 54 Xciter user manual Access level e Press Operator to switch to operator mode f Press Dummy to switch to dummy mode g Press STORE to store the new access level h Press ESC to leave the dialog 8 4 2 2 From other to programmer In any user mode other than programmer Xciter will ask for the programmer password when you try to enter the setup menu The password is X512 Enter password i Use the arrow keys or the top right jog wheel to move the cursor Use general purpose keys 1 10 to input numbers use 10 to enter a zero and 11 20 to input letters Use SHIFT to switch between uppercase and lowercase Use CLEAR to delete the character under the cursor Use LOAD to insert a character before the cursor j Press ENT to confirm ESC to cancel x If you have entered the correct password the setup menu appears l Press Access level in the setup menu m Press Programmer to switch to programmer mode Press Operator to switch to operator mode Press Dummy to switch to dummy mode n Press STORE to store the new access level o Press ESC to leave the dialog 8 4 3 Password The password is X512 Xciter user manual 55 File manager 8 5 File manager Xciter has its own
20. at least one logical channel Xciter will not let you store an empty scene all channels transparent If you wish to create a single scene skip the following steps 3 If you wish to create a sequence simply modify the current look As long as the programmer is active Xciter keeps the last used values of all channels This is very useful when you only need to make small changes from step to step Example Move the color wheel one position further Note that you can clear the programmer at any point if you wish to build a completely different look See The programmer on page 64 4 Press Add to add the current look behind the last step of the sequence or press Insert to insert the current look before the currently selected step of the sequence Xciter stores the previous step automatically You do not need to press STORE explicitly All steps after the insertion point will advance one position Also notice the scene counter incrementing as you are adding or inserting steps The moment you add or insert a second step the scene editor becomes the sequence editor That should not bother you because both editors are exactly the same As long as you are in the programmer Xciter keeps the values 5 Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you have created all the steps you intended for the sequence If you are happy with the sequence skip the following steps Of course you can continue editing as much as you like Example If you have previewed t
21. both layers transparent but you will also clear all parameters related to the channels like effects and presets Those parameters will then be gone when you activate the channel again Press LOAD to bring all values in the inactive layer to the active layer to bring them to the top Example You want to create a color chase but you only want to store the values of color channels Select the fixture s you would like to use fixture 1 fixture 2 fixture 3 fixture 4 i Eat ole 1 I I 1 LI Active channels Active layer M coLwt DIM COLW1 DIM COLW1 DIM COLW1 stored OI OI HIH 1 Active channels Inactive layer Sim comm DIM COLw1 DIM COLW1 DIM COLW1 NOT stored You want to see the colors while you are programming so you put the dimmers open fixture 1 fixture 2 fixture 3 fixture 4 Active layer lt 259 gt Ei lt 255 gt lt 255 gt lt 255 gt Active channels yer DM com DIM eu DIM COLM DIM COLW1 stored j lt 259 gt D kel lt 255 gt Ei lt 255 gt lt 255 gt LJ Active channels Inactive layer DiM corm DIM COLW1 DIM com DIM COLW1 NOT stored But you do not want dimmer values stored So you press CLEAR once to make the active layer transparent Dimmers are no longer stored but they do remain open because the values are still in the inactive layer fixture 1 fixtu
22. chase with this parameter Example Set the value higher to create a more random flashing In most cases you will want the fixtures to be delayed equally across the effect Span is a great tool for doing this You can set the span from 0 359 degrees Set this value to 359 degrees if you want the fixtures to be delayed across the entire effect Press the bump button under span to apply the span Xciter calculates the fixture delay and puts it in Fdlay If your fixtures are standing or hanging in a row you may want to make a kit scanner To achieve this you can put the effect generator in bounce mode Hold the SHIFT button while you press the softkey next to the shape Sqr25 When you use bounce mode and do not divide your fixtures evenly across the effect you may see a gap in the dimmer chase Xciter also has a solution for this Put Coffs on 90 degrees and hold the SHIFT button while you press the bump button under the parameter Span This action will cause the fixtures to be divided symmetrically around the zero point of the effect see following illustration Repeat step 12 until you get a good result Xciter user manual Effect generator examples FIX 1 Coffs 90 FIX 2 90 135 FIX 3 aie 180 LU FIX 4 e 225 2 Coffs 90 13 Exit the effects dialog with ESC 11 3 How to create a color chase 1 2 Select at least 2 fixtures of the same type Activate the color wheel COLW1 Go to the first color of the color wheel
23. either channel to access the shape list Select Mast from the list Deselect all channels by pressing CLEAR Select the DIM channel only and put its swing on 255 Deselect all channels by pressing CLEAR Select the SHUT or STROBE channel only and put its swing on to the value it would normally take to strobe Press the master bump button and see what happens 10 11 How to use the BPM feature 82 You have seen the BPM generators and the modulating generators This feature combines both When you select one of the BPM shapes on a channel the generator assigned to that channel will be modulated with a BPM generator generator 251 255 Make the circle from Effect generator examples on page 85 to start with but stay in the effects dialog instead of pressing ESC There should be a sine wave running on PAN and TILT in generator 10 Make sure PAN and TILT are still selected they should have the lt symbol next to them Press the left softkey next to PAN or TILT to bring up the shape list and select Bpm 2 from the list The fixtures will start circling inwards and outwards Tap the C F button at different rates and see what happens You have done something similar to the example of the modulating generators but this time you did not have to use some channel to make the modulating generator work You only needed to select these special shapes The main difference is the speed setting In the modulating generators you could set a
24. experimenting with the shapes you need to assign an effect generator to a logical channel Take the PAN TILT example from the section How to apply effects to logical channels on page 75 to get started Make sure you have both the PAN and TILT selected 1 The sine shape is put on a channel by default Simply press the left softkey next to the shape name to bring up the list of available shapes 2 Press the right softkey next to a shape to select it Xciter puts the newly selected shape on the channel The effect on the output is immediately visible 3 Repeat steps 1 2 to experiment with some of the shapes You can also place different shapes on each individual channel Simply select the channel and press the left softkey next to its shape name Make sure the others are deselected otherwise they will get the same shape Here follows a list of the basic shapes Depending on the shape selected the effect generator will add the shape symmetrically around the base value Other shapes come on top or below the base value If the shape goes past the maximum DMX value 255 for 8 bit it is clipped The amount of clipping depends on the channel e base value you set in the programmer and the shape you select Each graph represents one time frame of the shape at full swing The base value in each graph is selected to have as little clipping as possible Sine 2 255 gt Sine default Hsine 255 Base value 255 Base value 0 0 u Base
25. firmware and new fixture definitions 1 If you have a previous version of the PC software installed make sure the Xciter is not attached to the USB port while you are installing PC software 2 Run setup exe to launch the install wizard 3 Click next in the intro screen 1 Setup Xciter Manager 5 x Welcome to the Xciter Manager Setup Wizard This will install citer Manager 2 00 on your computer It is recommended that you close all other applications before continuing Click Next to continue or Cancel to exit Setup ent Xciter user manual 13 Installation Click next Specify an install directory or use the one suggested i Setup Xciter Manager Select Destination Location Where should citer Manager be installed i Setup Xciter Manager Select Additional Tasks Which additional tasks should be performed Click install to confirm i Setup Xciter Manager Ready to Install Setup is now ready to begin installing Xciter Manager on your computer Xciter user manual 7 8 10 11 Installation When setup has finished copying all the necessary files it will display the following message If you had a previous installation make sure there is no Xciter connected to the PC at this point nel Setup Xciter Manager u Installing Please wait while Setup installs Xciter Manager on your computer Extracti
26. following processes are running as a result of cue1 followed by cue2 e GEO is running on layer A e GEO is running on layer B e SEQ4 is running on layer D e The combined looks of BG1 and BG2 are running Because of this sequence transparency you have to remain consistent when assigning sequences to cues Observe the following example Cue 1 Cue 2 running processes S D PT wall D PT centre D PT centre DIM open DIM effect DIM effect Cue1 dimmer open blue color and PT pan tilt on the wall Cue2 dimmer with effect green color and pan tilt on the centre of the dance floor Cue 1 followed by Cue2 results in the following look e The dimmer effect is there because it has been placed in the background scene in both cues e The PT centre is there because the PAN and TILT information has been put in sequence D in both cues There is no sequence running at a higher level that can override the PAN and TILT at this point e The color poses a problem It will not go green upon pressing cue 2 because the blue sequence on layer A keeps running The green color will only become visible the moment you deactivate sequence A with the blue color This because layer A has a higher priority Hint 1 Remember dimmer channels are HTP The HTP principle won t bother you if you always put the dimmer information on the same priority level as shown in the example above Hint 2 To avoid difficulties with sequence transparency order the seque
27. from the fixture and DA patch as you scroll through the DMX chain Soft patch Limits In the previous example of the soft patch we covered channel limits Remember that when you added the physical channel the default limits and test values appeared on the fader display In this section you will discover an extra feature of the dimmer patch that allows you to set these defaults When soft patching a lot of channels this will save you some work But also take into account that these same defaults are used when you are patching single channels the quick way See example 1 of the dimmer patch Example You are using 110V PAR cans on a 220V dimmer Although you can set the limits in the soft patch it is safer to set them using this limits option prior to patching That way you are sure that all physical channels you patch afterwards are set to the correct limits Warning The default limits roll back to system default High 255 Low 0 Test value 128 the moment you leave the dimmer patch So you need to set them to your desired defaults when you return to the dimmer patch later and want to use defaults other then the system defaults Press Limits in the dimmer patch menu LIMITS High 255 Low Test value Press the softkey next to the parameter you wish to change Xciter user manual Patch 3 Use the top right scroll wheel to adjust the current value You can also press CLEAR to clear the current value and input a n
28. from the intro screen 14 1 Edit menu from default Press EDIT in the intro screen to call up the edit menu 1 To LeS gt Preset Sequence lt 14 1 1 Edit Sequence 1 Press Sequence Xciter shows the internal list of sequences if there are any 2 Use the top right jog wheel to scroll through the list and locate the sequence you wish to edit Press the softkey next to the sequence to select it 3 Press EDIT to edit the sequence Xciter will take a clone of the sequence and place it in the sequence editor Press CLEAR to delete the sequence Xciter will ask for confirmation 14 1 2 Edit background scene 1 Press BG scene Xciter shows the internal list of background scenes 2 Use the top right jog wheel to scroll through the list and locate the scene you wish to edit Press the softkey next to the scene name to select it 3 Press EDIT to edit the selected scene Xciter will take a clone of the scene and place it in the scene editor Press CLEAR to delete the selected scene Xciter will ask for confirmation 14 1 3 Edit preset 1 Press Preset Use the page keys and general purpose number keys to select the preset you wish to edit Press ENT to start editing or ESC to cancel Press CLEAR to delete the selected preset Xciter will ask for confirmation 14 2 Quick edit during show To use the quick edit function you need to be in cue mode and have a cue with content running 14 2 1 Edit cue s
29. need to assign one of the special generators 1 5 to a logical channel The channel itself will not participate in the effect since you only need to set the speed of this generator Use a channel that you normally do not use with an effect generator like STROBE or SHUT We only need the channel to make this special generator work Example select the SHUT or STROBE channel and assign generator 1 to it 9 We recommend you put the Speed of this generator low Example 10 The fixtures will start circling again but this time the circle becomes bigger and smaller according to the speed of generator 1 80 Xciter user manual Effect generator With Speed of generator 10 you set the velocity of the circle itself With its swing you set the maximum diameter of the circle With Speed of generator 1 you set the rate of change in this case the rate of the in and outgoing motion This is yet another feature that enables you to make very complex and attractive effects The number of variations is huge Here are some suggestions e Put the modulating generator on PAN or TILT only and leave the basic sine wave on the other channel e Put PAN or TILT or both of them in bounce e Use two different modulating generators on PAN and TILT so you can use different speeds 10 7 How to use the BPM generators generators 251 255 The generators in the range 251 to 255 set their speed according to the tempo or rhythm you enter using the C F button see jo
30. open the dimmer shutter before recalling the macro 90 Xciter user manual Storing to memory Chapter 13 Storing to memory Press STORE twice double click once you are ready with your scene sequence or preset The store menu appears on the main LCD Update Preset Bg scene Cue et Sequence Izd 0 ef Vo Ce Note Update is only visible when you are editing an existing show element Xciter presents you with two options to store your work This depends on how you are planning to use the console Most people want to store a show element and assign it to a cue button or playback fader immediately When you have a lot of different elements this is the easiest and quickest way to work 2 In some rare cases you may have a show where you reuse one or more scene many times In this case it is better to store it once to memory and then assign it to the cue buttons or faders later 13 1 Store as sequence 13 1 1 Assign directly to cue 1 2 In the store dialog press the softkey Cue with the arrow coming from Sequence Use the page keys and general purpose number keys to select the cue button where you want to store the sequence Xciter shows the current BG scene if there is any in the fader LCD and the current sequences in the main LCD Use the soft keys next to the slots A B C or D to select an empty sequence slot Press ENT to confirm Xciter suggests a default name If you agree to this name
31. quit adding definitions 4 Repeat steps 1 3 until you have added all the fixture definitions you need We recommend not filling the memory with fixture definitions you do not need An excessively long fixture list will also make the library application run more slowly 5 Finally press Update to start uploading the definitions to the Xciter When the update is successful Xciter will download the library list again 112 Xciter user manual PC software 17 3 2 Remove a fixture definition 1 Select category and manufacturer from the Xciter library 2 Select fixture definition s in the Xciter library list 3 Press Remove to remove the selected definitions from the Xciter library at the next update A warning will pop up with four options e Press No if you wish to skip the definition mentioned in the message e Press Yes if you wish to remove the definition mentioned in the message The message will reappear for each definition that is to be removed e Press Yes to all if you are sure you want to remove all definitions The message will no longer appear e Press Cancel if you have changed your mind and do not want to continue removing definitions 4 Repeat steps 1 3 until you are done removing fixture definitions 5 Finally press Update to start actually removing the definitions from the Xciter When the update is successful Xciter will download the library list again 17 3 3 Export to li
32. rig are patched to the Xciter controls If you have not patched yet see Patch on page 38 There are basically two ways to program You can program from default meaning you program without any cues running Or you can program during show meaning you program with cues running in the background overriding fixtures 9 1 Select deselect device Xciter permits you to use moving lights and dimmers together in scenes so you can switch between fixture and dimmer pages freely without losing device selections or channel settings 1 Press FIX to select fixtures intelligent lights Press DIM to select dimmers generic lights 2 Use FIX to swap between fixture pages If FIX is lit you are in page one fixtures 1 20 If it is blinking you are in page two fixtures 21 40 3 Use general purpose number keys 1 20 to select deselect devices one by one In normal selection Xciter keeps the focus on the last selected fixture If you hold down SHIFT while selecting fixtures Xciter keeps the focus on the first selected fixture 9 2 Select deselect range Instead of selecting each device separately you can also select a range This feature is only useful if you have patched devices of the same type behind neighbouring number buttons 1 Press FIX to select fixtures intelligent lights or DIM to select dimmers generic lights 2 Use FIX to swap between fixture pages If FIX is lit you are in page one fixtures 1 20 If it
33. six faders under the fader LCD you can cross fade up to six sequences with the background scene and sequences that are running in the cue But the things you cross fade do not necessarily have to be complete sequences Example You wish to flash a PAR can with a bump button Simply program a one step sequence with the dimmer channel at full 255 or 100 Set the fade time to 0 for instant action and store the sequence directly to a playback fader Refer to the chapter on Program features on page 63 if you do not know how to program the console 1 Use the centre top jog wheel to scroll through the playback banks 2 Pusha fader above 3 to activate the sequence under it and adjust its influence on the output The higher you push it the higher the influence of the sequence The corresponding bump button lights up to indicate the playback is active and locked Hit a bump button to flash a sequence to 100 intensity To deactivate a playback sequence you need to pull the fader below 3 again Xciter user manual 103 Run mode features 15 4 2 Sequence trigger and step modes The mode of playback sequences can be set in the same way as sequences inside the cue Hold SHIFT while you press the bump button under the playback sequence you wish to configure The same dialog that can also be seen in the Sequence trigger and step mode of the cue appears 15 4 3 Capturing the value Often it may seem that the faders do not respond immediately Th
34. to the chapter Editing existing on page 95 Xciter user manual 101 Run mode features 9 Repeat steps 2 6 until you have finished managing the playback banks Press ESC to exit the playback fader manager If you have made any changes Xciter reports this and asks whether you would like to store these changes Press Yes to store and exit or press No to exit without storing 15 2 5 Link a playback bank to a cue 1 2 The playback banks are independent of cues meaning that whatever cue is running you get the same 160 playback banks But sometimes you need quick access to a specific bank instead of scrolling through all banks Example When you launch a cue for some slow music you need a bank of playbacks that do something on the mirror ball If you link that bank to the cue Xciter will jump to it the moment you launch the cue Of course you can still scroll to other banks If you want to return to the linked bank select the current cue again press the blinking cue button Make sure you are in the extended dialog Use the arrow keys or the centre top jog wheel to locate the bank you wish to link to the cue AP Active Playback Bank shows the number of the playback bank that is displayed Press PP to link the displayed bank to the current cue If another bank is already linked you need to press the softkey twice Warning This is another setting that you need to store to the cue because otherwise the setting w
35. up and down through the list Press the bump button under the channel name of the logical channel you wish to modify Example CHO1 Press EDIT to modify the logical channel Xciter brings up the DMX chain on the fader LCD It displays the first physical channel that has been patched to the logical channel Example 101 Xciter will also send the default test value 128 if you have not changed it to all the physical channels currently patched to the selected logical channel 48 Xciter user manual Patch Dm O1 CHO1 gt Next used Invert Test value lt Se gt Unit names The main LCD indicates that we are editing the logical channel with name CHO1 of dimmer unit 01 101 102 lt 128 gt Dm 01 The top line in the fader LCD displays the DMX addresses The second line displays the state of those physical channels The mode of the logical channel is set to fade by default It is useful to set a default fade snap mode in the patch to make programming easier especially if you are always programming the channel in the same mode We will elaborate on fade snap modes in Section 9 6 The programmer on page 64 To configure the default mode of a logical channel a Hold SHIFT and press the bump button under the physical channel Example Do this for channel 101 101 Channel not patched 101 Channel patched in default fade mode site Channel patched in default snap mode 128
36. you want to use If the color wheel has a color selection area we recommend you use that area Access the effects dialog from the advanced menu of the scene editor Select the COLW1 channel and assign generator number 12 to it On the left side you see the current shape that will run on top of the COLW1 channel This is sine by default Press the softkey next to it Xciter shows the list of available shapes Use SCR1 to scroll through the list until you see Sawnt Select it by pressing the corresponding softkey on the right side This shape is a saw tooth wave Put the generator in bounce to make it a triangle wave Set the Speed value to 20 and the Swing value to 40 This will make the fixtures chase through some colors on their color wheels The parameter Speed determines the velocity of the chase The higher the value the faster the chase The parameter Swing determines the number of colors form the start color Like the Sqr25 the saw tooth and triangle waves only go to a positive extreme set by the swing With Fdlay or fixture delay you can make the color chase take on some behavior that is almost impossible to program with sequences Try some values and see what happens We find that low fixture delays make the nicest chases Another nice effect is the color swap The method is approximately the same But you need to use a square shape like the Sqr50 Set the swing very low 5 so you only swap between tw
37. 12 to go to programmer mode You have to provide this password to enter the setup menu Press Setup in the intro screens Auto Start Joystick Access level Test Library File mngr Patch 101 Advanced Xciter user manual 33 Fixture library 8 1 Fixture library The Xciter is delivered with most Martin fixtures already in its library On top of that the PC application holds a couple of hundred more fixtures from other brands Later in this manual you will learn how to transfer them from the PC library into the Xciter library The console needs a fixture library to access the channel settings of the fixtures dimmer shutter color wheels gobo wheels effect wheels pan tilt etc You can also add remove and edit fixture definitions If you can find your fixtures in this library there is no need for you to create your own profiles You can proceed straight to the patch You can still come back to the library editor to modify the fixture profiles for your own needs Example To put a default value on the focus 1 Press Library in the setup menu 2 Select a fixture category Example moving mirror 3 Select a manufacturer Example Martin 8 1 1 Create a new fixture definition First you have to select the category and manufacturer subfolders where you want to create your definition 1 Press LOAD to add a fixture definition 2 Xciter calls the fixture definition editor Fixture type name Channel cnt Channel con
38. 175 Offline TEE eis tian Re taco via chee at ee he aie ee re 114 Chapter 18 Specifications Xciter unnsunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 115 Introduction Chapter 1 Introduction Thank you for selecting the Martin Xciter As well as this manual your Xciter is supplied with a training DVD containing videos and animations The DVD gives an overview of your Xciter s features and how to use them with clearly explained examples so you are recommended to view it before operating the product The Xciter is a hands on lighting control tool for DJs and lighting operators It allows instant manipulation of the light show via easy to use buttons and faders for spontaneous lighting effects Ideal for clubs small touring applications and even larger mobile DJs Xciter puts programming playback and live manipulation of light shows at your fingertips Instant pitch control freeze flash blackout master control and many other features are standard You can apply stunning effects to any parameter with the advanced effect generator Functions like strobe smoke etc can be assigned to each of four programmable customizable buttons for personalized intuitive control Assign effects scenes or dimmer to any of six faders and flash buttons and access them live during playback Keep your finger on the pulse by increasing or decreasing the show speed by up to 5 times using the convenient pitch fader With Xciter you ca
39. 7 Multiple shows uuuuusnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 31 ER UE EN 1 2 Remove eh eege nace lenny ENEE La ee NENNEN ENEE ae EN Chapter 8 SElUP MEN en abe een 33 Bul EIXture ID any ara E EE AER EE EE EN 34 8 1 1 Create a new fixture defimiton nen 34 8 1 2 Edit existing fixture definition cee cee cceeeee cece ee ceeeeeeeaeeeeeeeeceaeeesaaeseeaeeseeeesaaeeseeeseeeees 37 8 1 3 Remove fixture definition eee e cee ee ence cece ee eeeeeeeeeaeeeaee sense cage eeeaaeeseaeeseeeeeaeeesaeeeeneeee 37 Ee EE EE 38 8 2 t Selecting a pateh ET E 38 8 2 2 Copyingsa pateh EEN 39 8 2 3 About physical channels and logical Channels A 40 8 2 4 Fixt re e E telecine ninco ric ida alate stint akan 40 82 4 1 Ee DEE 41 8 2 4 2 Edit a patched fixture number cence eeeeeeeeeeeceeeeeceaeeseaaeseeeeeteaeeesaeeneneeee 42 8 2 4 3 Clear patch data eege in ee ele eee aed ela 43 8 2 5 Dimmer ere EE 43 8 2 5 1 Changing the default channel names cent eeeaeeeeaaeseeeeeseaeeesaeeneaeeee 45 8 2 5 2 Sorta EE teed nevada eave tad ee aps eee 46 8 2 5 3 Soft patch advanced settings cccccceeeeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeceeeeseaeeeeeaeseeeeeesaeseeeeseneee 48 8 2 5 4 Soft patchy Limits ein nein een dll dE 50 8 2 07 D Ar Palo rast ser a ee hee a tats sence ae er 51 EEN D EE 53 8 4 ACCESS eelere ee AE ee EE 54 8 4 1 Different modes for different people 54 8 4 1 1 Programmer ul EE 54 8 41 72
40. IT comes the parameter wait time WT Press the softkey next to the parameter value to adjust it Example Press WT gt 0 0 S Use the top right jog wheel to increment decrement the value If you want to input a completely new value hold CLEAR until the value reads 0 0 Use general purpose number keys 1 10 to input a new value use 10 to enter a 0 Example 10 seconds Press ENT to confirm or ESC to leave the value unchanged Go to step 3 until you are done editing the list Press STORE to store the cue list to memory Press any key to confirm the message that follows Press ESC to leave the cue list editor Xciter will return to cue list selection where you can launch the cue list Xciter user manual 107 Direct access features Chapter 16 Direct access features Besides the override playbacks there are several other features for direct access during the show 16 1 Pitch control and freeze The second fader from the left with the center click is the pitch control fader With this fader you can manipulate all timing parameters relatively during playback and programming Timing parameters include scene time fade time and speed of all effect generators This also works for automated shows cue lists When the fader is in the center click the Xciter runs with the original timings you programmed Hold Freeze to pause all sequences and effects that are running Release it again to play 16 2 Master Master Fl
41. If you want to have even more control over the audio trigger you can place an equalizer between the audio source and the console Warning DO NOT connect an amplified output like the speaker output from an amplifier to the AUDIO connection as it may damage the console Xciter user manual Installation 2 1 5 2C expansion Use this connector to attach accessories to the console As you can see the I C expansion port is the same as MIDI Connecting MIDI to this port will not damage the console Warning Martin accessories only DO NOT connect other devices as this may damage the console 2 1 6 USB link to PC You need a USB A to USB B cable to connect your Xciter to a desktop or laptop Use the USB link to upload new firmware download and upload fixture definitions and do backup restore of shows Later in this manual we will explain how to use the PC applications that come with Xciter 2 1 7 Desk light or Littlite The USB A connector on the front panel must only be used to supply power to a desk light Attention you can draw a maximum of 315 mA from this port Check the specification of your desk light before using it 2 2 Software Before Xciter can communicate with your PC or laptop you need to install the USB drivers and applications on your PC You can find them on the CD supplied with the Xciter We recommend that you download the latest applications from the Martin website at http www martin com They may contain newer
42. PC software 17 1 Launch the application Double click the Martin icon with the label Xciter manager on your desktop to launch the application citer Manager The application will present you with the choice between two different sections xi Utilities Offline Features 17 2 Firmware Make sure Xciter is connected to the PC Make sure Xciter is booted Select the utilities section Fon Remain in the tab page Firmware I cx Firmware Library Backup Restore Convert Show Upload Contains Firmware Version 2 02 Xciter Detected 5 Press the button Upload The PC application will start checking the memory for differences If the firmware you are uploading is the same as the one inside the Xciter the console will not update Otherwise It will start uploading firmware to the console 6 Do not unplug the console unless the PC application reports a successful update or an error message The Xciter should reboot automatically after a successful update Xciter user manual 111 PC software Note An update should not take more than 5 minutes Note Do not worry if the update of the main controller fails The console may not boot up but you can still update the firmware again If you keep getting errors though refer to Martin support on http www martin com Warning There is one critical part in the firmware update If the update of the IO controller is interrupted the
43. The fade time is 2 sec 255 channel value 0 255 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 time sec Xciter user manual 69 Program features Scene time determines how long the scene in a cue list or step in a sequence remains on before switching to the next The scene time is only relevant when transition between scenes or steps is automatic sequences and cue lists When we come to talk about fade time there are two important channel modes Fade and Snap When a channel is in fade mode the fade time determines the time it takes for that channel to ramp up or down to its end value When a channel is in snap mode it will instantly go to its end value totally ignoring the fade time If you do not remember how to set the channel mode refer to The programmer on page 64 Example In most cases you want the color wheel to go to its end position immediately instead of scrolling through all the colors However the dimmer needs to fade in When creating the look you simply set the DIM channel to fade lt gt and COLW1 to snap D When you start from scratch the Xciter uses default timing ST 1 0 sec FT 1 0 sec The first time you activate a channel in the programmer you may notice that channel getting its default mode from the fixture definition Press ST 1 0 S to change the scene time Use the top right jog wheel to increment decrement the value Or press CLEAR until the value reads 0 and input a new value using general p
44. Use the general purpose number keys to select a dimmer unit Example 1 Channel count 6 DMX 101 Soft patch 2 3 5 6 os 0s Te 0 CHO3 CHO4 CHO5 cCHO6 If you have followed the first example correctly dimmer unit 1 should still have the 6 logical channels patched to physical channels 101 to 106 with the default channel names CH01 CHO6 3 Press the bump button under the channel name you wish to change Example CHO1 A cursor will appear under the first character of the channel name Use the top right scroll wheel or the arrow keys to move the cursor Use CLEAR to clear the character under the cursor Use LOAD to insert a character before the cursor Use the general purpose keys 1 10 to input numbers 10 being the 0 and 11 20 to input letters SHIFT swaps between uppercase and lowercase Press ENT to confirm the new name ESC to leave it unchanged Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you have changed all channel names you wanted to change Press ESC to leave the dimmer patch Xciter asks you whether you want to store changes if you have made any Press Yes to store them No to exit the dimmer patch without saving Xciter user manual 45 Patch 8 2 5 2 Soft patch 1 In the first example of the dimmer patch section you saw how easy it is to patch a dimmer unit of 6 channels In the following section you will learn about the soft patch that holds the advanced features of the dimmer patch You may rememb
45. Xciter user manual Measurements are in millimeters 468 85 2003 2005 Martin Professional A S Denmark Printed in Denmark This user manual has been developed by R amp D International NV Belgium on behalf of Martin Professional A S Denmark All rights reserved No part of this manual may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from Martin Professional A S Denmark The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice Martin Professional AS makes no warranty of any kind with regard to this material including but not limited to the implied warranties of fitness for a particular purpose Martin Profession AS shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing performance or use of this material P N 35000119 Revision D Table of contents Chapter 1 Introduction an nn 7 1 1 Naming conventions used in this manual 7 EE E 8 1 2 1 Important safety instructions 0 cece cee ceeeeeeeeeeceeeeeeeaeeeeaaeeeeeeeseaeeesaaaesdeaeeseaeeesaeeesaaeeeenees 8 Chapter 2 Installation EEN 11 2 1 ere TEE 11 2 1 1 Power c nnection r en Haaren ee ra 11 2 1 1 1 Installing a plug on the power cable nen anne nn 11 Pa E72 DMX 010 EE 11 ile T DEVLER S ra aia deeds cathan ced ningeds A E N A SESA neared 12 2 1 2 2 DMX
46. You are playing back a sequence and for some reason you would like to put the dimmer at full in all the steps With this function you can do that very easily without the danger of forgetting a scene Simply select all the fixtures that need their dimmer open and only put the DIM channel at full Copy this look into the clipboard Now edit the sequence and go to the copy paste dialog Simply hold All while you press Add to add the clipboard look with the DIM channel at full to all the steps in the sequence Xciter user manual Effect generator Chapter 10 Effect generator Of all the programming features in the Xciter the effect generator must be the supreme tool You can put up to 255 different effects in a single scene These effect generators are not preprogrammed If you want to use preprogrammed effects refer to Effect macros on page 89 10 1 How to apply effects to logical channels 1 Select the fixtures you wish to use in the effect Example Martin MX 10 13ch Open the dimmer and activate the channels you want to give an effect Example PAN and TILT Go to the advanced editor menu and press effects Xciter presents a list of all the activated channels If you do not activate any logical channel you won t see one listed You cannot apply an effect to a transparent channel because it is simply not listed Scene None Sine Speed Swing Coffs Cdlay Fdlay Span You can select deselect logical channels wi
47. and 255 when it is completely up A fader should only modify its corresponding value If other values are affected there may be a problem with the front panel hardware Sudden jumps in a value may indicate mechanical wear or excessive dust in the corresponding fader An extra test for the pitch fader is to put it on its centre click That should bring the pitch value to 128 5 Move the joystick to all its extremes slowly The values for Pan and Tilt should change smoothly in the fader LCD Sudden jumps in the values may indicate that the joystick has mechanical wear or is dirty The Pan Tilt values may vary from console to console They also depend on the how hard you push against the plastic The values should range from 40 to 220 8 8 1 3 DMX test Do not get upset if the second line in the key fader test dialog says DMX Bad The reason is simple The Xciter has a built in DMX cable tester To test a cable you need to link DMX out to DMX in Xciter will tell Xciter user manual 61 Test you whether the cable is good or bad This feature only works for 5 pin DMX cables that are not crossed over If you wish to test other cables you need to make yourself some converters 8 8 2 Other tests The other tests are for debugging purposes They are not covered in this manual 62 Xciter user manual Program features Chapter 9 Program features Before you go ahead and start programming you have to make sure that the fixtures on your
48. ash and Black Out The first fader on the left controls the master intensity Use it to manipulate the relative intensity of fixtures and generic dimmers For those fixtures that do not have a dimmer Xciter has the shutter close value see library This value is sent to those particular fixtures when you pull the master intensity below 3 Press the MI bounce button master flash to momentarily drive fixtures and dimmers to their full intensity Press BO to blackout all devices and dimmers BO is a toggle button so you need to press it again to come out of blackout Remember that you can exclude certain fixtures from master and from blackout see patch Fixtures that have these flags set in the patch are not affected by the master fader and or blackout 16 3 DA buttons SMK STRB EXT1 and EXT2 To setup DA Direct Access buttons requires some experience in the sense that you have to know what is attached to your physical DMX channels see patch Remember the DA button has two sets of values on and off Press a DA button to apply its on values from the DA patch to the DMX output If the button is in flash mode its on values remain applied to the output as long as you push it If the button is in toggle mode the on values remain applied until you press the button again If the button is in the off state the off values from its DA patch will obviously appear on the DMX output Xciter user manual 109 PC software Chapter 17
49. ayback faders have a higher priority than the content running in the cue meaning common channels will be overridden except for dimmer channels which are HTP Highest Takes Precedence This is covered later in this chapter under process priority and cue run mode Visible bank 3 2 3 Cue list Cue List ue Step 1 Step options Cue Step 2 Step options Cue Step 99 Step options The purpose of a cue list is to make playback of ashow automatic or semi automatic depending on whether there is an operator or not Cue lists are ideal when somebody with little knowledge about lighting operates the console A cue list can contain up to 99 steps Each step in the cue list refers to an existing cue that you would call manually when operating the console yourself They are similar to sequences but at a much higher level That is why we also call them automated shows The step options determine the behavior of the show e WAIT e FOLLOW e GOTO e LOOP e LAMP_ON e LAMP_RESET e LAMP_OFF GO Later in this manual we will look more closely at cue lists and step options Xciter user manual 19 The Xciter philosophy 3 3 Tools for flexible shows 3 3 1 Effect generator Use Xciter s powerful effect generator to add dynamics to your background scenes and sequences There are 255 effect generators that you can use on any logical channel That means you are not limited to pan tilt movement with effects Later in this manual you wi
50. b You can export your own made fixture definitions from Xciter s internal library to the source library on PC 1 Select category and manufacturer from the Xciter library Select fixture definition s in the Xciter library list Press Export to place the selected definitions in the PC source library This is done immediately You do not need to press Update explicitly The application will place the fixture definitions in the FixLib subfolder of the Xciter installation C Program Files Martin Professional Xciter Xciter Manager FixLib Important Do not modify the structure of this folder If you do the library manager may not run properly and you may need to re install the PC software 17 4 Backup Restore 1 Make sure Xciter is connected to the PC 2 Make sure Xciter is booted 3 Select the utilities section 4 Go to the tab page Backup Restore ls Firmware Library Backup Restore Convert Show Show Show Occupied Im z Backup Im x Restore SE SE Doo om E a Weer MIDI Keys l Done citer ready Xciter user manual 113 PC software 17 4 1 Backup 1 Select the show you wish to back up from the drop down list next to the backup button Only shows with content are displayed Press the Backup button A file dialog appears The application will use the system date and time for a default name You can change this to another name Press Save t
51. ble the console is to the user There are three access levels 1 Programmer level 2 Operator level 3 Dummy level 8 4 1 Different modes for different people 8 4 1 1 Programmer mode You have access to all functions 8 4 1 2 Operator mode You have access to all playback functions The following functions are disabled e EDIT You cannot edit existing show elements e STORE You cannot store new show elements or settings Example Even if you are a programmer you can safely operate the console in this mode Example Your resident DJ knows the controller well and you want him to get the best out of it 8 4 1 3 Dummy mode You have limited access to playback functions and cannot edit or store The following functions are disabled EDIT You cannot edit anything STORE You cannot store anything limited You can only modify the audio triggers from cue e CLEAR You cannot clear anything e LOAD limited You can only load a cue list FIX amp DIM You cannot access fixtures and dimmers Example At an exhibition you want to increase interactivity with certain art objects So you can have visitors who do not know anything about light safely operating the console and change the lighting themselves Example You have a guest DJ who does not know anything about the console Have him run a cue list with go and give him some playbacks 8 4 2 Changing user modes 8 4 2 1 From programmer to other In programmer mode
52. ch the fixture using another DMX address You can re address fixtures without corrupting the show provided you use the same number key and re address the device on your rig accordingly Example If you patch a fixture two channels higher up in the Xciter you also need to configure the fixture in the lighting rig advancing its address by two channels 8 2 4 1 Patch fixtures 1 Example We wish to patch four MX 4 fixtures under number keys 1 4 starting from physical address 1 Use general purpose number keys 1 20 to select fixture numbers Example 1 2 3 and 4 Select Model DMX ONo Master Pan Invo m fom Ciel Tilt edel P T Swapo Press Select Model to browse the fixture library for a model Under manufacturer select Martin Under category select Moving Mirror Locate fixture definition MX4 6CH in the list Select it by pressing the softkey next to the name Press ENT to confirm the selection The fader LCD shows the currently selected model now If you wish to add more fixtures of the same model to the patch you do not need to reselect the model Xciter keeps the last selected model in memory Press DMX Xciter calculates the required DMX space and suggests the next available DMX start address Use the top right scroll wheel to adjust the current value You can also press CLEAR to clear out the current value and input a new value using the general purpose number keys 1 10 10 being the 0 Example 1
53. console may no longer work If such an event occurs refer to Martin support on http www martin com 17 3 Library 1 Make sure Xciter is connected to the PC 2 Make sure Xciter is booted 3 Select the utilities section 4 Go to the tab page Library ll x Firmware Library Backup Restore Convert Show Source Library Xciter Library Category Category Moving head 7 Moving Head Update Manufacturer Manufacturer Martin 7 MARTIN D Add Remove Export Done citer ready Done Xciter ready Xciter will start downloading the library list from Xciter This may take a while It depends on how many fixtures are in the list 17 3 1 Add a fixture definition 1 Select category and manufacturer from the source library 2 Select fixture definition s in the source library list 3 Press Add to add the selected fixture definition s to the Xciter library at the next update If the fixture definition already exists in the library a warning will pop up with four options e Press No if you wish to skip the definition mentioned in the message e Press Yes if you wish to replace the definition mentioned in the message The message will reappear for each definition that already exists in the Xciter library e Press Yes to all if you are sure you want to replace all definitions The message will no longer appear e Press Cancel if you have changed your mind and want to
54. d The best example is the circle If you want to create a circle the PAN and TILT channels need to be synchronized and delayed 90 If the effect generators are not synchronized a shift in the delay will occur and movement will no longer be a circle Another example is a dimmer fall where the DIM channel needs to be perfectly delayed with the TILT In such cases you must assign the same generator number to all the channels involved in the effect to keep them synchronized 10 6 How to use the modulating generators generators 1 5 Generators 1 5 are special generators that can be applied on top of any other generator 6 250 They have the ability to modify the amplitude of those other generators at a certain rate As an example we will create a circle that moves inwards and outwards Remember that you can create complex movement like this in a single scene 3 Make the circle from Effect generator examples on page 85 to start with but stay in the effects dialog instead of pressing ESC 4 There should be a sine wave running on PAN and TILT in generator 10 Make sure PAN and TILT are still selected they should have the lt symbol next to them Press the left softkey next to PAN or TILT to bring up the shape list and select Gen 1 from the list If you have not used generator number 1 before the fixtures will stop circling Deselect PAN and TILT because otherwise their effect parameters will be overwritten We
55. d playback fader If you are using the same sequence a lot in the show store and assign it only once to conserve memory You can assign it to other faders in run mode see Extended cue dialog in Run mode features on page 99 If you store and assign the same sequence to multiple faders instead Xciter will store a new file for each fader which is a waste of memory 13 1 3 Store to list assign later 1 Press sequence in the store dialog Xciter prompts you to give a name 2 Use the arrow keys or the top right jog wheel to move the cursor Use the general purpose number keys to input letters and numbers Use CLEAR and LOAD to delete characters and insert blanks respectively 3 Press ENT to confirm or ESC to cancel Xciter stores all the scenes in the editor to the sequence in memory To actually assign the background scene you just stored you need to refer to Extended cue dialog in Run mode features on page 99 Again this method is only useful if you want to reuse this scene under a lot of cue buttons or faders If not assign directly for quicker and easier programming 13 2 Store as background scene 13 2 1 Assign directly to cue 1 Inthe store dialog press the softkey Cue with the arrow coming from Bg scene 2 Use the page keys and general purpose number keys to select the cue button where you want to store the background scene Xciter shows the current BG scene if there is any in the fader LCD an
56. d the current sequences in the main LCD 3 Press ENT to confirm Xciter suggests a default name If you agree to this name press ENT again to confirm Or hold CLEAR until all characters are deleted Use the general purpose number keys to input the new name Press ENT to confirm your new name Upon confirmation Xciter stores the current scene the scene that is visible to memory and assigns it to the selected cue button If you are using the same background scene a lot in the show store and assign it only once to conserve memory You can assign it to other cue buttons in run mode see Extended cue dialog in Run mode features on page 99 If you store and assign the same scene to multiple buttons Xciter will store a new file for each of those buttons which is a waste of memory 13 2 2 Store to list assign later 1 Press Bg scene in the store dialog Xciter prompts you to give a name 2 Use the arrow keys or the top right jog wheel to move the cursor Use the general purpose number keys to input letters and numbers Use CLEAR and LOAD to delete characters and insert blanks respectively 3 Press ENT to confirm or ESC to cancel Xciter stores the current scene in the editor to the background scene in memory To actually assign the sequence you just stored see Extended cue dialog in Run mode features on page 99 Again this method is only useful if you want to reuse this sequence under a lot of c
57. d to select a cue list with content to do this e Clear a cue list This option is available only if you have selected a cue list with content Press ESC if you want to leave cue list mode again 15 5 2 Create a new cue list 1 2 8 9 Make sure you have selected an empty list Example select cue list 1 01 Press EDIT to call the cue list editor List 1 01 Step 0 00 Press LOAD to ADD steps Press LOAD to add a step behind the last one Cue 0 00 WT gt 0 0 Ss List 1 01 Step 1 01 WAIT Xciter adds an empty step in the list with the default WAIT option Press a page key followed by a general purpose number key to select the cue you wish to attach to this step Example Select cue 1 01 Use the second softkey on the right hand side to toggle between the step options WAIT FOLLOW GOTO LOOP LAMP_ON LAMP_RESET LAMP_OFF and GO Example Select the WAIT option Depending on the step option you choose you have to set different parameters Example WAIT comes the parameter wait time WT Press the softkey next to the parameter value to adjust it Example Press WT gt 0 0 S Use the top right jog wheel to increment decrement the value If you want to input a completely new value hold CLEAR until the value reads 0 0 Use general purpose number keys 1 10 to input a new value 10 being the 0 Example 10 seconds Press ENT to confirm or ESC to leave the value unchanged Repeat s
58. e 1 Channel count DMX Soft patch 3 Press Channel count Use the top right scroll wheel to adjust the current value You can also press CLEAR to clear the current value and input a new value using the general purpose number keys 1 10 use key 10 to enter a zero Example 6 Press ENT to confirm the value or ESC to return without inputting a value We press ENT Upon pressing ENT Xciter generates 6 default channel names for the logical channels 1 2 3 4 5 6 01 0s Bei 107 CRO3 CHO4 01 00 gt CHO06 4 Press DMX Use the top right scroll wheel to adjust the current value You can also press CLEAR to clear out the current value and input a new value using the general purpose number keys 1 10 use 10 for zero 44 Xciter user manual Patch Example 101 Press ENT to confirm the value or ESC to return without inputting a value We press ENT Upon pressing ENT Xciter patches the 6 logical channels to physical DMX channels from 101 to 106 5 Press ESC to leave the dimmer patch Xciter asks you whether you want to store changes if you have made any Press Yes to store them No to exit the dimmer patch without saving The more advanced options of the dimmer patch are explained in the sections below 8 2 5 1 Changing the default channel names 1 Press Dimmer Patch in the patch menu Xciter prompts you to select a dimmer unit Select dimmer unit Soft patch 2
59. e logical channel currently selected fader will no longer control these channels after you have stored the changes to the dimmer patch 5 To add physical DMX channels to the logical channel fader follow steps a through d below 46 Xciter user manual a Patch Press EDIT Xciter brings up the DMX chain on the fader LCD It displays the first physical channel that has been patched to the logical channel Example 101 Xciter will also send the default test value 128 if you have not changed it to all the physical channels currently patched to the selected logical channel Dm 01 E o amp gt Next used Invert amp gt Unit names Test value lt The main LCD indicates that we are editing the logical channel with name CHO1 of dimmer unit 01 097 100 101 102 a lt 128 gt Dm 01 The top line in the fader LCD displays the DMX addresses The second line displays the state of those physical channels Use the centre top jog wheel to scroll through the physical channels of the DMX chain in pages of 6 Example scroll until you see channel 111 To add a physical channel to the logical channel press the bump button under its DMX address Example 111 Xciter puts a default test value of 128 on DMX address 111 In our example both physical channels on address 101 and 111 should now have a value of 128 If you want to unpatch the physical channel you have to press the bump button under its addre
60. e run mode Settings iniinis ran a ri iaa ea aa a ViN aad ane 103 15 4 Playback controls 22 2 era eee a is 103 15 4 1 Activate deactivate and bump override playbacks sseesseeseesesseereereeresrreere 103 15 4 2 Sequence trigger and step Modes eect eeeeeeceeeeeeaeeeseaeeeeeeeeseaeeetaeeseneeee 104 15 4 3 Capturing the value inisinia isinaad iaai aidai idis 104 15 44 AULONOCK TEE 104 e EE 104 19 5 1 GU e list selection ees Age ek ALM Gane ae ee 104 15 5 2 Create a new cue let 105 Th RUN CUSTS e 2 ege eege Ee EAEE Ee ee Ai 106 19 5 4 Glear TEE 106 15 5 5 Edit an existing cue list un 4nnnnnsannnnnnnnnnnnnnannnnnnnnannnnnnnnnnnnnnannnnnnnnnennnnannnnnn 106 Chapter 16 Direct access features unessunnnensnnnnnnnrnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnennennnnnnnnnennnnnnne 109 16 1 Pitch contr l nd freeze 2 2 2 u 2 En Bi iin 109 16 2 Master Master Flash and Black Out 109 16 3 DA buttons SMK STRB EXT1 and EXT2 uunseessnsnnssnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnonnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 109 Chapter 17 PG Software s u004u0uuaaus aaa anna anna nn ann nn ENEE daanin idani 111 171 Launch the applicano TEE 111 KG lu 111 ib exci I ole a ee ee eege eege 112 17 3 1 Add a fixture definition urs00u4nnennnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 112 17 3 2 Remove a fixture definition nn 113 179 3 Ge erg to le WEE 113 17 4 Backup Restore near beein ern Andheri An 113 RN e DEE 114 RS CN 114
61. e the risk of electric shock do not remove the cover or back CAUTION RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK DO NOT OPEN The lightning flash with arrowhead symbol within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to the presence of un insulated dangerous voltage within the product s enclosure that may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk of electric shock to persons The exclamation point within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to the presence of important operating and maintenance servicing instructions in the literature accompanying the appliance 1 2 1 Important safety instructions 1 Read and follow these instructions a Fo DN Keep these instructions Heed all warnings Do not use this appliance near water Clean only with dry cloth Xciter user manual 10 11 12 Introduction Do not block any ventilation openings Install in accordance with the instructions in this manual and on the appliance Do not install this appliance near any heat sources such as radiators heat registers stoves or other apparatus including amplifiers that produce heat Follow all safety instructions when installing and using a grounding type earthed plug Protect the power cord from being walked on or pinched particularly at plugs sockets and the point where they exit from the apparatus Only use attachments accessories specified by the manufacturer Unplug this apparatus during ligh
62. e to select it Press ENT to confirm ESC to cancel Xciter returns to the extended dialog The background scene is deactivated by default Press the top left softkey next to the scene name to activate deactivate it As with sequences the on off state is temporary meaning the scene will default back to off the next time you enter cue mode To prevent this you can store the on off state of the background scene inside the cue by pressing STORE 15 2 2 Add replace sequence 100 In normal circumstances you store sequences and assign them directly to a cue button In such cases this option is not so relevant But it may still be useful if you wish to assign an existing sequence to multiple cues Xciter user manual Run mode features 1 Press Add SEQ in the extended dialog Xciter shows the internal list of sequences Use the top right jog wheel to locate the sequence you wish to add Press the softkey on the right of the sequence name to select it Select the layer where you wish to place the sequence by pressing A B C or D Xciter adds the sequence and jumps back to the extended dialog You can swap back to the basic dialog by pressing to verify what you have just done The sequence is active by default 15 2 3 Remove BG scenes and or sequences from cue 1 Press CLEAR in the basic or extended dialog All SEQ e Press A B C or D to remove a single sequence from a certain sing
63. ee the name of the background scene if there is one assigned Example BGCUE_101 e AP indicates the playback bank that is displayed at the moment e PP indicates the playback bank that is currently linked to the cue Besides this extra information the extended dialog contains cue and playback related options e Activate deactivate cue scene e Link a playback bank to the cue e Audio settings e Assign playback scenes to banks and faders e Add or replace sequences e Add or replace the background scene Note 1 Xciter stores sequences and background scenes in internal lists see Xciter philosophy on page In run mode cue you can reuse existing scenes and sequences in cues and under playback faders The extended cue dialog is built for this purpose Note 2 You do not need to switch back to the basic dialog to select other cues When you select other cues with the page keys and general purpose number keys you can see the current cue changing in the top left corner 15 2 1 Add replace background scene Poh In normal circumstances you store scenes and assign them directly to a cue button In such cases this option is not so relevant But it may still be useful if you wish to assign an existing background scene to multiple cues Press Add BG in the extended dialog Xciter shows the internal list of background scenes Use the top right jog wheel to locate the scene you wish to add Press the softkey next to the scene nam
64. em on off You can choose to exclude a device from master and or blackout Exclude from master means the dimmer or shutter of the fixture is not affected by the master fader Exclude from blackout means the blackout button does not affect the dimmer or shutter of the fixture Press the softkey next to the options to toggle them on off You can see the status of every option by looking at the square next to it A filled square means on an empty one off Repeat steps 1 3 on other fixtures you want to edit Press STORE to store your changes If Xciter has detected changes it will report that it has stored them and ask you to press any key to continue Press ESC to leave the fixture patch If Xciter detects unstored changes to the patch it will report this and ask you whether you wish to store those changes Press Yes to store and exit no to exit without storing changes 8 2 4 3 Clear patch data PON u If you want to assign a different fixture model to a unit key or readdress it you have to clear the unit key first If you remove a fixture from the patch permanently that fixture will no longer take part in the show Hold down CLEAR as you press the general purpose number key s you wish to clear Release CLEAR to stop deleting fixtures from the patch If you want to delete another fixture repeat steps 1 2 Press STORE to store your changes If Xciter has detected changes it will report that it has stored them and ask you to pr
65. equence Make sure you are in the basic dialog where the four sequences are visible Xciter user manual 95 Editing existing Hold EDIT while you press the softkey on the left of the sequence you wish to edit It is the softkey you normally use to activate deactivate the sequence see Basic cue dialog in Run mode features on page 97 14 2 2 Edit background scene Make sure you are in the extended dialog where the background scene is visible Hold EDIT while you press the softkey on the left of the background scene This is the softkey you normally use to activate deactivate the background scene see Extended cue dialog in Run mode features on page 99 14 2 3 Edit playback sequence Scroll through the playback banks until you see the playback you wish to edit Hold EDIT while you press the bump button under the corresponding playback This is the key you normally use to bump the playback 96 Xciter user manual Run mode features Chapter 15 Run mode features Before we continue with the run mode features please make sure that you have programmed some sequences background scenes and playback scenes You need at least 5 of each to properly follow the examples in this chapter 15 1 Basic cue dialog If you are still in the programmer press ESC to exit That should bring you back to the intro screen 1 Press CUE in the intro screen Xciter displays the playback controls on the fader LCD and defaul
66. er from the introduction of this chapter that a single logical channel fader in a dimmer unit can control multiple channels on the DMX chain In the following example you will learn how to attach a second physical channel DMX to a logical channel fader Press Dimmer Patch in the patch menu Xciter prompts you to select a dimmer unit Select dimmer unit Soft patch Channel count 6 DMX 101 Soft patch 1 2 3 4 5 os 0s Bei 0 CH03 CH04 CHO5 CHO6 If you have followed the first example correctly dimmer unit 1 should still have the 6 logical channels patched to physical channels 101 to 106 If your dimmer unit has more than 6 logical channels or faders you can scroll to other pages of channels with the centre top scroll wheel As you press the bump buttons underneath the channel names note that the main display on the right shows a list of the physical channels attached to the selected logical channel If you have not used the soft patch before there should be only one physical channel in the list each time If there are more than 6 physical channels attached to the fader use the top right jog wheel to scroll up and down through the list Press the bump button under the channel name of the logical channel you wish to modify Example CH01 To remove physical DMX channels from the logical channels hold CLEAR and press the soft keys next to all the physical channels you wish to remove from the logical channel Th
67. er that the default layer takes over 3 4 5 Background scene In the run mode chapter you will learn how to playback cues When running BG background scenes inside cues you will discover that the scenes do not replace one another New channels are added to the current look and only existing ones are replaced DIM PAN TILT COLW EEA 255 128 110 255 128 110 255 128 110 Default layer DMX CUE 1 BG Scene Result on DMX CUE 2 BG Scene 255 Result on DMX CUE 3 BG Scene Result on DMX w oy ESL CUE 4 BG Scene Result on DMX 3 5 Sequence transparency across cues When you are putting sequences behind cue buttons you have to keep in mind that Xciter has sequence transparency When there is no sequence in the next cue to take over the sequence in the current cue the sequence from the current cue will keep running However you can still deactivate it In the previous section you have already learned that background scenes cumulate looks as you launch them Cue 1 Cue 2 running processes BG1 BG2 Launch cue e GEO starts running on layer A Xciter user manual 23 24 The Xciter philosophy e GEO starts running on layer D e BG1 starts running on the background scene level Launch cue2 e There is no sequence in layer A SEQ1 from cue1 will keep running e SEQ2 starts running on layer B e SEQ4 replaces SEQ3 from cue1 because they are both on layer D e BG2 is combined with BG1 The
68. ess any key to continue Press ESC to leave the fixture patch If Xciter detects changes to the patch that you have not stored it will report this and ask you whether you wish to store those changes Press Yes to store and exit no to exit without storing changes 8 2 5 Dimmer patch Xciter permits up to 20 dimmer units A single unit can contain up to 48 logical channels If you compare fixtures and dimmers you will conclude that most of the differences lie in the behavior of the logical channels A fixture control channel manipulates only one DMX channel A dimmer control channel can manipulate multiple physical channels Fixtures physical control channels are always grouped together i e the DMX address and the channels immediately above when you patch them The DMX Channels you patch to a dimmer control channel do not have to be grouped they can be anywhere on the DMX chain provided they are not occupied by the fixture or DA Direct Access patch Fixture units have factory defined channel names The channel names of dimmer units are user defined Note logical channels in a dimmer unit are all HTP Xciter user manual 43 Patch DMX channels Dimmer 1 dimmer unit Zei logical RED channels 1 Press Dimmer Patch in the patch menu Xciter prompts you to select a dimmer unit Select dimmer unit Soft patch B 2 Use the general purpose number keys to select a dimmer unit Exampl
69. ew value using the general purpose number keys 1 10 10 being the 0 Press ENT to accept the new value ESC to return to the previous value 4 lf you want to set another parameter repeat steps 2 and 3 Otherwise press ENT or ESC to leave the limits dialog and return to the dimmer patch 8 2 6 DA patch DA stands for Direct Access You have 4 DA buttons on the console The main purpose of the DA button is to control devices like smoke machines and strobes not to launch full scenes For that matter Xciter will not allow you to use channels that are occupied by units from another patch The DA patch allows you to patch two different sets of physical channels to each DA button On set of values is put on the DMX output when you press the button down and the other is output when you release the button If you wish to use a strobe in the show you need to patch it as a fixture or dimmer device but you can no longer use it under a DA button because of the restriction mentioned above However you can still make it direct access under a playback fader Note that if you change the DMX addresses of your DA devices in the rig you also need to move them in the DA patch 1 Press Direct Access in the patch menu Xciter shows the DA patch menu 2 Press the softkey to the right of the DA button you wish to edit Example Smoke Xciter shows a dialog on LCD2 that looks a lot like the dimmer soft patch CH Smoke Ge
70. fig Extended config 3 Press Fixture type name to name the fixture definition Use the arrow keys or the top right jog wheel to move the cursor Use general purpose keys 1 10 to input numbers and general purpose keys 11 19 to input letters Example test Press ENT to confirm ESC to cancel 4 Press Channel cnt to adjust the number of logical channels Use the arrow keys or the top right jog wheel to modify the value Example 8 Use CLEAR and general purpose keys 1 10 to input a new value Press ENT to confirm ESC to cancel 5 Press Channel Config to configure logical channels 34 Xciter user manual The Fixture library parameters that make up a logical channel Under Label you find all the predefined channel names that you can choose from Deflt or the default value is the value that is applied to the default layer when Xciter is running a show This value appears on the DMX when no other process is applying another value to it Lolim or low limit is the lowest value that Xciter will output on any physical channel that is patched to this logical channel even when you programmed a lower value Hilim or high limit is the highest value that Xciter will output on any physical channel that is patched to this logical channel even when you programmed a higher value With Fa Sn or default fade snap mode you set the mode the channel is in when you first activate it in the programmer If you put this in the mos
71. file system stored on FLASH memory which does not need battery backup The file system makes it easier to transfer single files to a PC or laptop We also remove corrupt files when Xciter boots A corrupt file is mostly the result of a power failure during storage But most important you can only lose one file one scene one sequence one fixture definition etc when the power fails 8 5 1 Defrag The file system does all of this automatically but we recommend you do an occasional clean up of the file system yourself 1 Press File mngr in the setup menu Xciter scans the file system When finished it shows the following dialog 0 28K 4 381K Defrag 96 7399K Press Defrag to clear dirty space and create free memory Press ESC to leave this menu 8 5 2 Format flash The format flash function allows you to delete all files in the Xciter including the fixture library and global setup Of course the dedicated operating system remains 1 Press File mngr in the setup menu Xciter scans the file system When finished it shows the following dialog Defrag O 28K w 4 381K 96 7399K Press CLEAR to show the delete functions Press ESC if you wish to exit without deleting anything Press Format flash if you wish to delete all data Xciter asks for confirmation Press Yes to delete Press No to cancel 56 Xciter user manual Advanced setup 8 6 Advanced setup Warning
72. he lt symbol next to them Press the left softkey next to DIM to bring up the shape list and select one of the MIDI channels from the list Select midi all if you want the logical channel to react to note values coming from any midi channel Example Select Midi all When you select the new shape the original dimmer chase from the example will stop running Press the keys on your midi keyboard from left to right and see what happens The dimmer should open up gradually Depending on the size of your keyboard the midi note may or may not start from 0 If not you cannot close the dimmer all the way 10 10 How to use the Master feature GO LO EN Si r Fe a JIN ci 10 In normal circumstances you use the master intensity bump button to give a flash when the master fader is set low The effect generator offers an extra feature where you can add a certain value on top of the base value when you press the master bump button Example You have a scene where the shutter is open and the dimmer at 50 When you press the master bump button you want the dimmers at full and the lights to strobe Select at least 2 fixtures of the same type Open the dimmer DIM and shutter SHUT or STROB Set the dimmer DIM to 50 but leave the shutter SHUT or STROB open Access the effects dialog from the advanced menu of the scene editor Select the DIM and SHUT or STROB channel and assign generator number 11 to it Press the softkey to the left of
73. he option to copy the content of the current patch into another patch We will explain this later 38 Xciter user manual Patch Copy e Patch 1 01 Exists 3 Press ENT to confirm the new patch number or ESC to decline and return to the previous patch number 8 2 2 Copying a patch Example Our current show is 102 This time we want to copy the content of patch 101 into patch 102 This function is useful if we want show 102 to use a similar patch to patch 101 but with minor changes 1 Press Patch in the patch menu Again the patch has the same number as the selected show default Patch 1 02 Empty 2 Use page keys 1 8 and general purpose number keys 1 20 to select patch 101 In our example patch 101 already has content Copy Patch 1 01 Exists 3 Press Copy to copy the content of patch 101 into the clipboard Paste 1 01 Copy Patch 1 01 Exists 4 Use page keys 1 8 and general purpose number keys 1 20 to select patch 102 In our example patch 102 is empty Press Paste 1 01 to paste the clipboard content into patch 102 Xciter user manual 39 Patch Patch 1 02 Exists CH Paste 1 01 Copy 5 Press ENT to confirm and return to the patch menu If you press ESC at this point the patch is copied but not reloaded The new patch still shows as empty until you exit and re enter the patch menu 8 2 3
74. he sequence and are not entirely satisfied with it 1 Use the arrow keys or top right jog wheel to scroll to the step you wish to edit Once found you can do several things with the current step When scrolling through the steps of a sequence those steps are also output on DMX even if you are programming with cues running This is because the programmer has a higher priority than any show elements currently running See The Xciter philosophy starting on page 17 for details of show elements and priorities When you select a fixture before scrolling you will see all values of its logical channels from step to step This is ideal for debugging your sequence 2 You can modify the look in the programmer The changes are automatically stored when you scroll to another step To add a copy of the current step after the last step press Add To insert a copy of the current step before the current step press Insert To delete the current step hold SHIFT as you press CLEAR Warning at this point the scene or sequence you just created is not yet stored to memory it is still inside the editor and will be lost if you exit without storing See Chapter 13 Storing to memory on page 91 9 7 3 Modify scene and fade time Sequences and cue lists can be more or less automated depending on how you set them up In automated operation you have to specify timing information at some point See the following illustration The scene time is 5 sec
75. his channel The space a fixture occupies in the DMX universe depends on the number of logical channels it uses 40 Xciter user manual Patch A fixture type can have up to 48 logical channels assigned to it on the Xciter However remember that there is a maximum of 512 physical channels in one complete DMX universe This means you cannot patch 40 devices each with 48 logical channels because you would need 1920 physical channels Thanks to Xciter s interactive features and intuitive user interface you will find it easy to patch fixtures without overlapping their channels In fact Xciter does not allow overlapping in the patch anywhere Press Fixture Patch in the patch menu Xciter informs you that you need to press a general purpose number key to select a fixture Use FIXT to toggle between fixture page one fixtures 1 20 and two fixtures 21 40 You can see the current page on the fader LCD In fixture page 1 the FIXT button is lit in page 2 it is blinking Lit Number keys are already patched We recommend selecting an empty patch to follow the examples in this manual see Selecting a patch on page 38 Xciter allows you to patch multiple fixtures at once This feature is very useful when you want multiple fixtures of the same model patched sequentially on the DMX chain If you unpatch a fixture from a number key that fixture will no longer appear in the show To move a fixture to another address you need to unpatch and repat
76. hysical channels Built in Martin fixture library other libraries can be updated via USB Library editor to create your own fixture definitions Up to 160 cues 1 background scene 4 sequences can run simultaneously per cue Up to 160 cue lists automated shows with go chase and wait functionality Up to 160 presets on all channels 16 bit possible on all channels Effect generator with adjustable speed swing and delay Effect macro to recall complex effects instantly several effect macros factory loaded Relative and absolute control possible over all channels 16 bit fan control on all channels to create spread outs Up to 6 sequences can be cross faded with cues during playback Sequence trigger modes internal clock manual audio 4 band adjustable levels BPM with record mode Sequence options forward backward bounce random one shot freeze one shot release Auto start of automated shows with auto lamp on feature Export import show or library via USB link to PC Approvals ATER Thy CE EMC EN 55103 1 EN 55103 2 Safety EN 60950 ETL UL 60950 Included items User manual DVD containing product training presentation and PC software 5imeter 16 1t 3 pin XLR cable vic scsi ieeane iodide dete naire lai tat nate bee dete ai P N 11820008 USB ee P N 11840066 DMX termination plug XLR malen P N 91613017 3 wire 1 5 meter 5 ft IEC mains cable irna eee a a aa aaa aaa eaa aiaee Eais P N 11501012 Gooseneck Lamp
77. ill be gone the next time you enter cue mode Press STORE to save the playback link to the cue 15 2 5 1 Audio settings 1 2 3 102 The audio settings are global meaning that they are the same for all cues All sequences you set on the audio trigger instantly react to these settings In the top left corner you see the mode of the graphical analyzer You can switch between signal S and differential D with the softkey next to it Signal means you see the actual amplitude of the incoming signals from the audio filters Differential means you only see the differences in amplitude of the rising edges The easiest way to set the audio thresholds is with the graphical analyzer in differential mode Use the signal mode to adjust the volume of the audio feed In the top right corner you see the level of the currently selected parameter On the bottom line you see the parameter labels S Sub 60 Hz L Low 400 Hz M Mid 1 2 kHz H High 12 5 kHz On the second line from the bottom you see the beat counters for each audio band A counter will increment by 1 every time an audio beat comes on its audio band Keep an eye on this counter when you set the audio threshold Press Audio Press CLEAR LOAD and EDIT to select the audio bands Press STORE to select the volume Xciter user manual Run mode features 4 Use the top right jog wheel to adjust the value 5 Repeat these steps until you have set al
78. im behaVior 2 2 ee e i EE aA E een 12 ZAS MID ICONMECHON EE 12 2 14 AUDIO Been te EE 12 SEELEN eege 13 2 1 6 USBilink 10 EE 13 2 1 7 Desk light or Littlite 2 0 cee cece eeneeceeeeecaeeeeaaeeneeeeceaeeseaaesaaeesaaeeseaaesseaeessaeessaaeseeaaessenees 13 22 SSOMW E E aaa aaa eda a ada 13 Chapter 3 The Xciter philoSOpPhy eceeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeenees 17 Si Show elements ienen aoh Wee Ln ai ees alive eh Ace ei 17 SIS SCONC ius un E es eee ME a eae agave a aaa earl a ave 17 CT Ee 17 3 2 Ways of running show elements nn 18 GUEST 18 9 2 2 Playback 4 222 222 2a a Inne Ae ev ee ale a es 18 TEE 19 3 3 Tools for flexible SNOWS A 20 3 3 Stee EE 20 EECA Ee ET EE 20 STEE ee E ee ee ee eege Al 20 3 4 Behavior of show elements nn 21 JAT Process e EE 21 3 4 2 Dimmer channels are HIP 22 3 4 3 TANSPareNncy EE 22 RE EEN 22 3 4 5 e te E 23 3 5 Sequence transparency ACFOSS CUES nn 23 Chapter 4 Power On OM siitutnsesnsatidscigetin cautusid oatsutiainhindinnni usin eebe ee tee 25 AA POWER EE 25 A e e EE 25 Chapter 5 Joystick OperatiOn sssseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesenneees 27 5 1 Operation in the programmer usrsssssssennnnnnnsnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nassen nn 27 5 2 Operation in cue run mode nn 27 Chapter 6 Desk light operation u 200000000nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 29 Chapter
79. inside the cue e GO Xciter waits until you press the right arrow button before launching the cue inside the current step e GOTO with To x Xciter jumps to step x of the cue list If you place this function at the end of a cue list with To 1 that list will loop infinitely e LOOP with Loopcount x and To y Xciter jumps to step y of the cue list x times before proceeding to the underlying steps e LAMP_ON Execute lamp on procedures for all patched fixtures e LAMP_RESET Execute reset procedures for all patched fixtures e LAMP_OFF Execute lamp off procedures for all patched fixtures 15 5 1 Cue list selection 1 Press CL in the intro menu to enter cue list mode Select a cue list amp cue list 0 00 104 Xciter user manual 2 3 Run mode features Use the page keys and general purpose number keys to select a cue list The cue list number appears on the main LCD The first digit is the page number the second is the cue list number on that page Xciter reports List empty if the cue list is empty or contains list if it has content A cue list with content also has a lit number key If you select a cue list its page and number key start blinking From this point on you have four options e Create a new cue list You need to select an empty cue list to do this e Run acue list This option is available only if you have selected a cue list with content e Edit an existing cue list You nee
80. instead of moving heads Moving heads produce a figure 8 shape when they tilt past their vertical position Access the effects dialog from the advanced menu of the scene editor Select the PAN and TILT channels and assign generator number 10 to them If you assign the same generator number to a group of channels like PAN and TILT in this example these channels will have the same speed This also means they will always run synchronized which is needed to maintain a circle If you assign different generator numbers to PAN and TILT you apply different speeds to them You need to do this when you want to create something like a figure 8 Sine Sine Scene Sine Speed Swing Coffs Cdlay Fdlay Span lt 0 gt lt 0 gt lt 0 gt 0 0 0 Set the Speed value to 20 and the Swing value to 50 This will make the fixtures move in line The parameter Speed determines the velocity of movement If you increase the speed the fixtures will move faster If you decrease it they will move more slowly The parameter Swing determines how far the fixtures move from one end to the other around their base position If you increase the swing the fixtures will move further away from their base position If you decrease it they will move closer to their base position Xciter user manual 85 Effect generator examples 9 10 11 12 Set the Cdlay or channel delay value to 90 degrees Th
81. ion That is a hardware parameter of the patched fixture and is therefore a global setting However you can also invert channels within each scene Hold Invert in the advanced functions menu while you press the bump button under the logical channel you wish to invert Xciter inverts the channel in the programmer The effect is especially noticeable when the channel value is off center The indicators in the programmer are also inverted Release Invert Example You have 8 fixtures of the same type Select all fixtures and activate their pan and tilt channels Leave the even numbered fixtures unchanged Select the odd numbered fixtures and invert the pan channel in the programmer Select all fixtures again and adjust the pan value The odd numbered fixtures should pan in the opposite direction to the even numbered fixtures The example above demonstrates the main purpose of the invert function to make a crossing effect on pan in only a few seconds This feature obviously works on all channels and fully supports 16 bit fixtures as well 9 7 8 Fan control 72 As with the invert function outlined above fan control is another useful tool to create an attractive effect very quickly Example Although you can make a spread on all channels the fan control is mostly used to make spread outs on pan or tilt You will achieve the best result when you use fixtures of the same model put in a straight line Select the fixtures you wan
82. is blinking you are in page two fixtures 21 40 Hold the number key of the first fixture number in the range Press the number key of the last fixture number in the range The number keys of the selected range start blinking to indicate the selection Xciter keeps the focus on the first selected fixture 9 3 Selection behavior Depending on the state of the programmer and editor the device selection may take on different behavior 9 3 1 Inclusive This behavior occurs when you start from scratch or have just stored changes to the programmer by pressing STORE Every new number is added to the current selection Example When you start programming you take all fixtures you want to use in the scene and put their dimmers and shutters open 9 3 2 Exclusive This behavior kicks in the moment you adjust something in the programmer When you make a change to the scene STORE starts blinking Every new selection gets rid of the previous one You can recall the inclusive behavior by pressing STORE to store the scene in the programmer and confirm the changes Xciter user manual 63 Program features Example You are adjusting the pan tilt of each fixture individually to focus them on one point on the lead singer in a scene When you finish positioning one of the fixtures and select the next one Xciter automatically deselects the previous one This way you cannot mess up your pan tilt when you forget to deselect the previous fixt
83. is is the case when the actual fader value is above or below the current intensity value of the sequence This can happen when you scroll through pages or return from the programmer manual fixture override You need to go past the current intensity to gain control over it again This is also called capturing the current value This may look annoying at first but it is this same feature that prevents playbacks from suddenly becoming active when you return from the programmer manual fixture override 15 4 4 Auto lock The moment you activate a playback it is locked automatically in its current position This means that the PB will no longer scroll along with the ones that are inactive The moment you deactivate the PB it is unlocked again 15 5 Cue lists The main purpose of cue lists is to automatically run cues Cue lists are especially useful if you use the console as a stand alone unit The cue list uses the same cues that you normally launch with the cue buttons You can use the following options to control the progress of your automated show A cue list can have up to 99 steps e WAIT with WT x S Xciter waits x seconds before launching the cue inside the current step The wait time can be maximum 6553 5 seconds e FOLLOW with FT x S Xciter launches the cue inside the current step immediately and follows it for x seconds before proceeding to the next step It adds the FT Follow Time to the ST Scene Time of the background scene
84. is will make the fixtures move in a circle This parameter only works if you have multiple channels selected like pan and tilt in this example With Cdlay you can create a delay between the channels instead of setting a delay for each channel separately with Coffs Set the Fdlay or fixture delay value to 180 degrees This will cause each fixture to move on another part of the circle Fdlay only works if you have multiple fixtures selected In most cases you will want the fixtures to be delayed equally across the effect Span is a great tool for doing this You can set the span from 0 359 degrees Set this value to 359 degrees if you want the fixtures to be delayed across the entire effect Press the bump button under span to apply the span Xciter calculates the fixture delay and puts it in Fdlay Exit the effects dialog with ESC Of course you can still change the base value of a channel while the effect is running on it For pan and tilt you can use the joystick while you are in the effect generator dialog To adjust the base value of other channels you need to return to the programmer by pressing ESC You can always go back to the effect dialog to adjust the effect on the channel In fact you can swap freely between the effect dialog and the programmer until you get your scene just right 11 2 How to create a dimmer chase 1 10 11 12 86 Select at least 2 fixtures of the same type Open the dimme
85. l audio bands 6 Press ENT to confirm ESC to cancel Xciter returns to the advanced dialog 15 3 Store run mode settings In some cases you need to explicitly store changes to certain settings of each cue If you do not these settings will be lost the next time you enter cue mode Press STORE in the basic or advanced dialog to store the current settings to the cue You do not need to press store for each cue button separately when you make changes to them You can make all the changes and press store once for all cue buttons The following settings need an explicit STORE if you want them to be permanent e Active inactive condition of each sequence e Active inactive condition of the background scene e Quick link to playback page 15 4 Playback controls When you are in cue run mode Xciter shows playback controls on the fader LCD Playback controls involve the following e The six faders under the LCD e The six bump buttons that accompany the faders e The centre top jog wheel e The fader LCD itself scene scene scene SCete scene scene name name name name name name The first things that catch the eye are the labels These are actually the PB sequence names Although you can give a name of 15 characters they are chopped off at 10 characters when they are displayed above the faders So we recommend you give maningful names of 10 characters to them 15 4 1 Activate deactivate and bump override playbacks With the
86. layer M coLwt DIM COLW1 DIM COLW1 DIM COLW1 stored lt gt lt gt 1 lt gt lt gt Active channels Inactive layer om com DIM COLW1 DIM COLW1 DIM COLW1 NOT stored 9 6 6 Presets 2 Obviously if you want to use presets you need to program some first The preset is simply a look that you create in the programmer When you have finished this chapter you will know how create a look But you need to store that look explicitly as a preset see Store as preset on page 92 for details Here you will learn how to recall them For this example you need to store a look with PAN and TILT channels under preset 101 Select one or more devices See Select deselect device and Select deselect range if you do not remember how to do that Activate the channels you wish to use by touching the corresponding fader or by pressing the corresponding bump button Example Press the bump buttons under PAN and TILT once Hold the bump button under the channel that you want to give a preset Use the page keys and general purpose number keys to select the preset page and preset number Example Press and hold the bump button under the PAN channel while you press page key 1 and general purpose key 1 to recall preset 101 Release the bump button Do the same for the TILT channel If you select a preset that does not have anything programmed for the logical channel i
87. le layer CLEAR Bia BG scene Press BG scene to delete the background scene only Press All SEQ to remove all 4 sequences from the layers A B C and D Press All to remove both the cue scene and the sequences 5 Press ESC if you have finished and wish to return to the basic dialog The changes are automatically stored to the cue 15 2 4 Assign sequences to faders In normal circumstances you store sequences and assign them directly to a fader In such cases this option is not so relevant But it may still be useful if you wish to assign an existing sequence to multiple faders 1 Press Seq gt fader in the extended dialog Xciter displays the current playback page on the top line of the main LCD The other 3 lines are used to show the internal list of sequences Use the top right jog wheel to locate the scene you wish to assign Press the softkey on the right of the scene name to select it Use the centre top jog wheel to scroll to a playback page with some unused faders You can also use the page keys and general purpose number keys to select a playback page directly 5 Press the bump button under the fader that has to run the selected sequence during your show To remove a sequence from a fader hold CLEAR while you press the bump button under that fader The sequence will disappear from under the fader but is not deleted from the memory It can still be reused later If you want to completely remove it refer
88. ll learn how helpful the effect generator can be when creating dimmer chases color wheel chases CMY effects etc In addition Xciter s powerful fading engine also fades on the swing speed and delay of effects if you want it to Example The fixtures pan tilt from a small circle to a big circle back and forth in a two step sequence If you put the effect parameters on fade the fixtures will spiral in and out If you put the parameters in snap the effects will come on instantly Some key features of the effect generator e Variable speed and swing e Variable delay across channels e Variable delay across fixtures e Multiple shapes like sine square saw tooth etc e Bounce reverse reverse bounce e Generator modulation e Audio modulation e BPM adaptive generators The effect generator and its parameters will be discussed in more detail in this manual when we discuss advanced programming 3 3 2 Effect Macros The previous section gave a brief introduction to the effect generator It also gave a summary of parameters that make the effect generator an extremely versatile tool but a comparatively slow one if you only want to create simple effects or need to have a more complex effect quickly The effect macros allow you to store effect parameters in a kind of effect preset so you can recall it later Example You have created an effect in a background scene before and want to reuse it Without effect macros you would either ha
89. mp off proc Reset proc O 9 The Lamp on Lamp off and Reset procedures are programmed in the same way We will use Lamp on as an example 10 Press the softkey next to the procedure you wish to create 11 Press LOAD to create a procedure in case there is none Xciter adds the first step automatically If you are editing a fixture definition you can also press EDIT if you want to modify an existing procedure or press CLEAR to delete it Xciter asks for confirmation Press Yes to confirm No to cancel Lamp on proc Step 1 1 Step time Zei fee Bees lisa ess CH001 CH002 CH003 CH004 CH005 CHOOe a Use the faders to adjust the internal control channels in the current step Use the top center jog wheel to scroll through the channels in case there are more than 6 To fine tune a value you can hold the bump button of the corresponding channel while you turn the top center jog wheel b Press Step time to adjust the duration of the step followed by ENT to confirm or ESC to leave unchanged c Press LOAD if you want to add another step to the procedure d Repeat steps 9a 9c until you have programmed the complete procedure e Press ESC to go back to the advanced configuration menu 12 Press Shut close to adjust the shutter close value Use the top right jog wheel or arrow keys to modify the value Use CLEAR and general purpose keys 1 10 to input a new value Press ENT to confirm ESC to leave u
90. must remain accessible so that the mains circuit can be disconnected from the fixture Important Verify that power cables are undamaged and rated for the current requirements of all connected devices before use The fixture s power cable requires an approved grounding type cord cap earthed mains plug that fits your local power distribution cable or outlet This is not supplied Consult a qualified electrician for proper installation Following the cord cap manufacturer s instructions connect the appropriate wires to ground earth live and neutral The following table below shows some common wire identification schemes Function Wire EU Wire US Markings live brown black Lor 1 neutral blue white N ground earth yellow green green l 2 1 2 DMX connection Xciter has one DMX 512 universe The rear panel of the console has one 5 pin XLR input one 3 pin XLR output and one 5 pin XLR output for a DMX serial data link The 3 pin and 5 pin outputs belong to the same DMX universe but they are both buffered This means they can be used together without violating the DMX specifications Xciter user manual 11 Installation 2 1 2 1 Devices 3 pin or 5 pin out DMX terminator 2 1 2 2 DMX in behavior The DMX input is HTP mixed HTP Highest Takes Precedence with the DMX output You can use the DMX input to hook up a generic lighting desk to the Xciter This way you can control the generic lights or dimmers fr
91. n e Pitch fader with center click to adjust sequence timing during playback e Freeze button e 6 faders and flash buttons for parameter control and direct access scenes during playback e Programmable smoke strobe extra 1 and extra 2 buttons e 40x 2 character LCD with blue backlight to show fader labels parameters and values e Jog wheel to scroll through fader pages e 20x 4 character LCD with blue backlight to show menus and dialogues e 8 soft buttons to select items on the display e Jog wheel to scroll through lists and input data e ESC and ENTER buttons for menu and dialogue control e Dim button for direct access to dimmer channels Fix button to control fixtures Cue button to launch single cues Cue list button to activate cue lists 8 page buttons to select cue pages and fixture groups 20 general purpose buttons to select cues select fixtures and input data Shift key to access secondary functions of certain buttons Previous and next buttons used for single stepping inputting data navigation Joystick for pan tilt control with built in button to toggle coarse fine Pan exclude button Tilt exclude button Home button to send all selected fixture to their home position Soft wrist pad for comfortable control USB A connector for desk light USB B connector for PC link Programming and playback facilities 40 fixtures of maximum 48 channels total max 512 physical channels 20 dimmers of maximum 48 channels total max 512 p
92. n control up to 40 fixtures A fixture can use up to 48 DMX channels A total of 512 channels are available in the Xciter s DMX universe You have access to 160 cues each containing 4 sequences which can run simultaneously Sequences can be triggered via an internal clock via audio or BPM or manually Up to 6 manual override scenes can be accessed during playback Also incorporated are 20 general purpose buttons so that operators can select cues or fixtures directly Xciter also includes a joystick for manual pan tilt control Use fan control to create attractive spread outs on the pan tilt or any channel just at the touch of a fader Xciter can store up to 160 presets which can be used on any parameter to make light shows extremely flexible in different environments Other features include manual override of fixture parameters and dimmer channels for direct access and programming during the show Extremely easy to navigate Xciter features easy to read blue backlight LCD displays for show menu dialog and channel name display above the faders as well as a jog wheel that makes it easy to scroll through fader pages Connect your PC directly to Xciter via the USB connection to update fixture libraries export import shows for show back up editing etc The Xciter is supplied with the following e User manual e 5 meter 16 ft 3 pin XLR cable e XLR termination plug e 3 wire 1 5 meter 5 ft IEC mains cable e 1 meter 3 ft USB cable e
93. nces as follows e A Intensity dimmer shutter e B Color color wheel CMY RGB Xciter user manual The Xciter philosophy e C Beam Gobo wheel animation wheel iris Zoom prism frost e D Focus Pan Tilt Chapter 4 Power on off 4 1 Power on Make sure the Xciter is connected to mains power and press the power button in the top left corner of the console Xciter scans the internal file system and restores the database The intro screens appear on the main and fader LCD displays Show 101 101 Setup Martin Professional Copyright 2003 XCITER Version 2 00 XIII EE 4 2 Power off Hold the power button pressed for at least 2 seconds until the displays and LED s go dark to power off Xciter user manual 25 Joystick operation Chapter 5 Joystick operation If you are using the Xciter for the first time you may need to calibrate the joystick See joystick calibration in the setup menu Press Joystick in the setup menu Move the joystick in a circle around the limits of its travel a couple of times Press STORE to store the calibration BO NY Press any button to continue Xciter returns to the setup menu 5 1 Operation in the programmer Xciter s self centering joystick always works in relative mode When you push the joystick in a certain direction the beam will move in that direction and the further you push the joystick from the centre the faster the beam will move
94. nchanged 36 Xciter user manual Fixture library Xciter puts the shutter close value on the shutter channel when you pull the master intensity fader below 3 This is especially useful when the fixture has a shutter but no dimmer With the shutter close value you can still black it out when the master intensity goes to 0 13 Press ESC to go back to the fixture definition editor 14 Press ESC again to exit the fixture definition editor Xciter will ask to store the new fixture definition Press Yes to accept No to decline 8 1 2 Edit existing fixture definition First you have to locate the definition in the category and manufacturer subfolders 1 Select the definition you wish to edit 2 Press EDIT to edit the selected fixture definition Use the same procedure as described in 8 1 1 to edit the definition Xciter will not allow you to edit critical parameters like channel cnt of a fixture definition if this definition is used in the patch 8 1 3 Remove fixture definition First you have to locate the definition in the category and manufacturer subfolders 1 Select the definition you wish to remove 2 Press CLEAR to remove the selected fixture definition Xciter will ask for a confirmation 3 Press Yes to confirm No to cancel Xciter will not allow you to delete a fixture definition if this definition is used in the patch Xciter user manual 37 Patch 8 2 Patch Before you start programming Xciter needs t
95. ne the transition from one step to the next Scene Time ST and Fade Time FT The fade time determines how long it takes for the step to reach its end values i e reach the programmed look The scene time is the total duration of the step fade time included Adjusting the scene time will make the sequence faster or slower As you will see later in this Xciter user manual 17 The Xciter philosophy manual you can adjust the timing parameters globally meaning each step gets the same parameters or locally meaning you can set a different timing for each step Xciter can hold as many sequences as its memory allows depending on the sequence content number of steps and number of active channels per step 3 2 Ways of running show elements Scenes and sequences are very straightforward and are quite easy to create using the console s intuitive programming features e A scene contains a single look e Asequence can contain up to 99 looks called steps In this section we will give you a taste of how Xciter s many playback features mold these basic elements into powerful and versatile constructs There are many different ways to create and playback a show You will eventually have to decide how you are going to playback the content you created 3 2 1 Cue Cue highest priority Sequence A trigger run mode Sequence B trigger run mode Sequence C trigger run mode Sequence D trigger run mode Background scene lowest priority
96. nel s value changes gradually from scene to scene according to the timings you specify in the scene editor Snap means the channel s value changes instantly from scene to scene Fade and snap will be explained in the section about the editor Only the active channels in a scene have the potential to change the DMX output Whether an active channel will actually change the DMX output depends on process priority See Process priority on page 21 for more information When you store a scene Xciter only saves active channels namely the channels you have modified in the programmer the ones that have a value above them instead of 64 Xciter user manual Program features 9 6 2 Handling logical channels Use the centre top jog wheel to scroll through the logical channels of a fixture or dimmer unit if there are more than six channels See Select deselect device on page 63 if you do not remember how to select devices Use the faders under the labels of the corresponding logical channels to modify their values To fine tune a value you can hold the bump button under the fader while you turn the centre top jog wheel When you first activate a logical channel the default value from the library comes on The channel is also in the default state Depending on what has been set in the library it is either fade or snap By pressing the bump button you can toggle the corresponding channel into fade snap or transparent again This wa
97. ng files D S L E 1 Setup is ready to install drivers Make sure NO Xciter is attached to the system before you continue Finally press Finish to exit the setup wizard N Setup Xciter Manager 15 x Completing the Xciter Manager Setup Wizard Setup has finished installing citer Manager on your computer The application may be launched by selecting the installed icons Click Finish to exit Setup Launch Xciter Manager Power the Xciter on Wait until it has completed booting and shows the intro screen This normally takes a few seconds Note If a previous upgrade has failed the displays may remain dark However even if this happens you should still be able to perform a new upgrade Use the USB cable to attach the Xciter to the PC Warning Only use the USB B connector center top of the front panel on the Xciter to connect to the PC The USB A connector top right corner of the front panel only serves to supply 5V power to a USB desk light The operating system will automatically detect the Xciter and the hardware wizard will appear If the wizard asks to connect to Windows Update to search for software select No not this time and press next Xciter user manual 15 Installation Found New Hardware Wizard Welcome to the Found New Hardware Wizard Windows will search for current and updated software by looking on your computer on the hardware installation CD or on the Windows U
98. ns to the basic dialog When you switch between triggers and modes the effect is immediately visible Unlike the on off state of the sequences these settings are permanently stored to the cue upon pressing ENT in the dialog 15 1 2 1 Internal trigger Xciter s internal clock triggers the sequence It uses the scene times and fades you specified 98 Xciter user manual Run mode features 15 1 2 2 Manual trigger You give the trigger yourself by pressing TILT See joystick operation Xciter ignores the wait time of a scene only the fade time is used to fade between scenes 15 1 2 3 None no trigger This trigger mode inhibits the trigger The sequence remains in its current step until it is activated again or overtaken by a sequence from another cue 15 1 2 4 BPM trigger Xciter triggers the sequence automatically but you specify the trigger speed or tempo expressed in BPM Beats Per Minute Forward Reverseol OInternal Bounceg0 HBPM 60 D RandomO 1 Tap C F several times to record a new BPM rate The default is 60 BPM or one beat per second 2 Use general purpose number keys 1 15 to set a beat count This number determines how many beats it takes before a trigger occurs In this case it actually divides the BPM to create a slower rate 15 1 2 5 Audio trigger When you choose the audio trigger the sequence will react to beats from the four band audio filter The audio levels are set globally in the advanced cue dial
99. o colors Xciter user manual 87 Effect macros Chapter 12 Effect macros In the previous 2 chapters you learned about the effect generator Combining all those basic shapes to obtain an attractive result can be tedious And configuring all the effect parameters each time you are creating a new scene is very time consuming This chapter covers Xciter s effect macros These effect macros are like presets not for channels but for the effect parameters If you reuse the same type of effect a lot you can store it as a macro and recall it instantly when you need it This saves you from doing the following tasks e Assign effect generators e Select shapes e Adjust the parameters e Fine tuning Xciter comes with some effect macros preloaded If you lose them you can still restore them by uploading the factory default backup file 12 1 Create an effect macro 1 6 Make the circle from Effect generator examples on page 7 to start with but stay in the effects dialog instead of pressing ESC There should be a sine wave running on PAN and TILT in generator 10 In the effect dialog select all the channels you wish to store to the effect macro with the softkeys on the right hand side Selections are indicated with lt Hold SHIFT while you press STORE Xciter prompts you to input a name for the macro Use the arrow keys or top right jog wheel to move the cursor Use general purpose number keys 11 20 to input letters and
100. o continue or Cancel if you want to stop there The application will start backing up files Do not interrupt this process until the application reports a successful backup or the backup file will definitely be corrupt Note Unless you have changed to a different folder the file is stored in My documents by default Note The show and patch files are backed up by default because the options are checked when you first use the backup restore You can choose which information to include in the backup file by checking unchecking the options on the right hand side of the application window 17 4 2 Restore 1 Select a show number from the drop down list next to the restore button Shows that already have content are marked with Press the button Restore If the show you selected already has content the application will ask whether you want to replace it Press Yes to confirm or No to stop there A file dialog appears The contents of the last used folder were you made a backup is displayed Select the backup file you wish to restore Press Open to use this file or Cancel to stop there If the backup file was made in another version of the backup restore application some conversion may be executed The application will start restoring Do not interrupt this process until the application reports a successful restore or the restore will be incomplete and the show will definitely be corrupt
101. o know which devices are connected to its DMX universe and how it will control them This is where the patch comes in To patch a device means to connect it to the Xciter controls so you are able to manipulate it The Xciter controls are divided into three groups which enable you to control e Up to 40 fixtures e Up to 20 dimmers e Up to 4 direct access devices Press Patch in the setup menu to access the patch menu Fixtures Dimmers Direct Access 8 2 1 Selecting a patch Since Xciter can store up to 160 patches each show can have its own patch assigned to it Xciter is set up with one patch per show by default This means that when you select another patch number Xciter uses the patch for the current show The default patch number is the same as the show number in the intro screen If you use the same lighting rig in multiple shows you will want to use the same patch in those shows Xciter lets you reuse one patch in multiple shows by reassigning it to those shows Example Show 102 is the current show By default it has patch 102 assigned to it We wish to use patch 101 on that show same patch as show 101 1 Press Patch in the patch menu By default the patch has the same number as the selected show amp Patch 1 02 Empty D 2 Use page keys 1 8 and general purpose number keys 1 20 to select patch 101 In our example patch 101 already has content If a patch has content Xciter will give you t
102. o leave the dialog and return to the scene sequence editor Note Like the invert function we discussed in the previous section this feature will enable you to create cross over sequences in a matter of seconds If you want to make a cross over sequence you need to escape the dialog to add the first step of the sequence return to the dialog to invert the spread out and escape again to add the inverted step 9 7 9 Copy paste scene The copy paste features are especially useful when you have part of a look that reoccurs in several scenes Xciter s copy paste clipboard allows you to store a single look and reuse it freely wherever you need it The clipboard even remains after you exit the programmer It only disappears when you power off the console 9 7 9 1 Copy a scene to the clipboard 8 Select fixtures and create the look that you wish to copy and reuse in other scenes 9 Press Copy Paste in the advanced part of the editor Clr eff Add eff All Copy 4 Add Scene 00 00 Rpl eff CH Clear Replace 10 Press to copy the current look to the clipboard Xciter user manual 73 Program features 9 7 9 2 Paste a scene from the clipboard Now that you have copied a look to the clipboard you can paste it into any scene you like The many paste options available are listed below Note that you do not have to reselect the fixtures that were involved in the look on the clipboard Xciter automatically selects them when you pas
103. o that MIDI note If there is no key assigned to the note it says Assoc key None d Press Midi ch O all Overwrite the current value and input a new value using the general purpose number keys 1 10 10 being the 0 Press ENT to confirm or ESC to cancel Note if you leave the midi channel on 0 the associated key will react to the specified note coming from all MIDI channels Press Record followed by a front panel key Once pressed that front panel key is associated with the MIDI note on the top line Press Show note followed by a front panel key to view the note that is linked to that key Press ESC to leave the MIDI key association dialog If you have made changes Xciter asks whether you want to store them Press YES to store and exit No to exit without storing Midi PB behavior In the previous section you have seen that you can link almost every key on the front panel to a midi note Later in this manual in the chapter about cue or run mode you will see that you can also link cues and playback faders to a midi note When the console receives a certain note it will launch the cue or PB sequence assigned to it For playback faders you can set whether the note flashes or toggles the PB sequence Example We put midi channels 1 5 on flash and midi channels 6 16 on toggle A note coming in on channels 1 5 will flash the playback sequence linked to it If the same note comes in on channels 6 16 it will t
104. og Olnternal Bouncet OBPM 60 0 RandomO MAudio ForwardiM OManual Beverset 1 Use general purpose number keys 1 15 to set a beat count This number determines how many beats it takes before a trigger occurs In this case it actually divides the beats from the audio filter to create a slower rate 2 Use general purpose keys 17 20 to select deselect the bands in the audio filter The symbols S L M and H appear next to the audio option to indicate which bands are selected You will get the best result with only one audio band selected 15 1 2 6 One shot freeze step mode Xciter s internal clock triggers the sequence It uses the scene times and fades you specified Instead of looping back to the first step it freezes at the last step 15 1 2 7 One shot release step mode Xciter s internal clock triggers the sequence It uses the scene times and fades you specified Instead of looping back to the first step it inhibits itself after the last step 15 2 Extended cue dialog Use to swap between the basic and the extended dialog Xciter user manual 99 Run mode features gt Audio Add GRO gt PP 1 01 Add BG GC 1 01 BGCUE_101 AP 1 01 Seq gt fader lt The extended dialog shows additional information about the cue and playbacks e The number in the top left corner indicates the current cue The first digit is the cue page the second digit is the cue itself Next to the cue number you s
105. oggle the same playback sequence Press Midi PB behavior in the advanced setup menu Xciter user manual Advanced setup Toggle midi channels 6 7 8 910 11 12 13 14 15 16 Flash midi channels By pressing general purpose number keys 1 16 you can set the mode of each midi channel to flash or toggle If a certain midi channel is in flash the backlight of the corresponding number key will be blinking If the midi channel is in toggle mode on the other hand the backlight is constantly on Example Press the general purpose number keys until keys 1 5 are blinking and 6 16 are constantly on Press ESC to exit this dialog If you have made any changes Xciter asks whether you want to save them Press Yes to save and exit or No to exit without saving changes Xciter returns to the advanced setup menu Xciter user manual 59 Joystick calibration 8 7 Joystick calibration If you are using the joystick a lot the values it sends out may show a little drift because of wear on the components The joystick calibration tool will solve this problem for you 1 Press Joystick in the setup menu to access the calibration tool Move the joystick to all extremes in a circular motion a couple of times Press STORE to store the calibration data Xciter confirms with Limits saved Press any key Press any button to continue Xciter returns to the setup menu 60 Xciter user manual Test 8 8 Test Press Test in the setup men
106. om the Xciter and the generic lighting desk at the same time on the same universe HTP on this connection means that the desk with the highest value on the same DMX channel will take control on that channel Fixtures Dimmers 5 pin out Generic dimmer lighting desk 2 1 3 MIDI connection If you have a MIDI device to control your shows you can connect it to the MIDI IN socket You can also patch through via MIDI THRU Xciter accepts the following MIDI commands Note ON and note OFF to activate playbacks and cues Note ON and note OFF to remotely press and release any key on the front panel except the power key If you press a cue or bump button with a MIDI command assigned to them Xciter also sends that command through MIDI OUT This way you can also use MIDI for master slave connection of multiple consoles without the need for DMX splitters Remember however that Xciter only accepts the MIDI commands noted above which are only useful for on off actions not linear control of faders 2 1 4 AUDIO connection 12 The desk also has audio triggering capabilities There is an internal microphone if no direct audio feed is available We recommend a direct audio line to get the best results out of the audio trigger You can plug audio into the 6 3mm 0 25 inch mono jack When using the line in the internal microphone is switched off Use standard audio signals like the pre amp output from your audio mixer to get the best results
107. ou cause delay between fixtures with Fdlay the fixtures themselves will be in different positions on the effect shape Hence their beams will be in different positions on the circle you created Xciter user manual 77 Effect generator 255 FIX and FIX2 Fdlay 180 TILT Coffs 90 or PAN TILT Cdlay 90 TILT D 1 time frame Span will divide the selected fixtures evenly across the number of degrees you specify Simply set a value and press the Span bump button to make the calculation You will see the resulting fixture delay under Fdlay Put Span at full 360 to divide the fixtures evenly over the entire effect The Speed Swing and Coffs can be put in fade or snap mode Use the Bump buttons under the parameters to toggle them We recommend leaving them in the default fade mode because Xciter s powerful engine will create smooth transitions between effects provided you specify a long enough fade time in the editor before you store the scene Creating your own custom effects can be very tedious To spare you the effort of having to program them over and over again refer to the section on effect macros on page 89 10 3 Basic shapes The effect generator by itself can only generate very basic shapes As you remember from the introduction you can put these shapes on any logical channel to create more complex effects This greatly expands the possibilities for operating your fixtures Before you can start
108. pdate Web site with your permission Read our privacy policy Can Windows connect to Windows Update to search for software Yes this time only Yes now and every time connect a device No not this time Click Next to continue lt Back Cancel 12 The wizard will install the software automatically by default Keep this option and press next Ppi ere re pre er 2 Than re Mi han ad rd ae bo Zeie 4 Hees hardware come miih on ine CD rm Veto dk are d rege toi Op t e r ng chp IS rafal the siham ern paora 7 iret hom bock keesel cksecsd kk Papeete dre gp 4 Back Eresi If the PC software was installed successfully the wizard will install and register all the necessary files Press finish to exit the wizard Found New Hardware Wizard x Completing the Found New I Hardware Wizard The wizard has finished installing the software for ai Xciter Click Finish to close the wizard lt Back Cancel 16 Xciter user manual The Xciter philosophy Chapter 3 The Xciter philosophy This chapter will give you an overview of the product and the basic concepts you need to understand to get the best out of it We strongly recommend you to view the DVD supplied with Xciter The DVD contains training sequences that give a clear overview of the product and how to use it 3 1 Show elements The two elements most basic elements in shows are scenes and sequence
109. process can only apply those same channels to the output unless a higher process uses the same channels see Process priority The other channels remain transparent the process is not using them Transparency has an important consequence The transparent channels of a process will not override channels of a lower priority process Example The background scene of cue 1 puts some fixtures in a certain position with open dimmers Sequence B from cue 1 runs a color chase on the same fixtures but the rest of its channels are transparent The result is on the DMX output is the position and dimmer values from the background scene and the color chase because the sequence only overrides the color channels DIM PAN TILT COLW Sequence A Deren 120 Sequence B Sequence C ou Sequence D 299 128 128 Background Scene 255 128 128 120 Result on DMX 3 4 4 Default The Default layer is always running When a certain logical channel is transparent in all processes meaning no other process is using the channel the value of the default layer is output for that channel This value is the library default for fixture units and the low limits for dimmer units Later in this manual you 22 Xciter user manual The Xciter philosophy will learn about programming from default You will see that all transparent channels in the programmer will get values from the default layer When the console is booting the system default all 0 is output Aft
110. programming the show Xciter user manual The Xciter philosophy 3 4 Behavior of show elements We call a running scene or sequence a process You may not see it but while you are programming or creating a show Xciter is running several processes in parallel background scenes sequences playback faders programmer direct access buttons lamp procedures etc The following sections cover the behavior of show elements inside a show 3 4 1 Process priority Very often these processes have common channels which means that they try to apply their own value to the same destination i e the same DMX address Xciter has the following scheme to prioritize these processes This way you will get the same behavior every time you run the show and most importantly you can predict that behavior when programming it highest priority Lamp on Lamp off Lamp reset direct access smoke strobe extra1 extra2 active channels in scene editor stored temporary active channels in editor not stored sequences activated with faders during show sequences A B C D in the cue background scene in the cue default default scene when no other processes are active lowest priority Example 1 You have programmed some PAN and TILT values and dimmer open for a certain fixture in the background scene While this background scene is active in the show you select the same fixture and move the joystick By doing this you put PAN and TILT value
111. ptions to toggle them on off You can see the status of every option by looking at the square next to it A filled square means on an empty one off Repeat these steps 1 5 until you have patched all fixtures on your rig Press STORE to store your changes If Xciter has detected changes it will report that it has stored them and asks you to press any key to continue 9 Press ESC to leave the fixture patch If Xciter detects changes to the patch that you have not stored it will report this and asks you whether you wish to store those changes Press Yes to store and exit no to exit without storing changes CH Patchtable has change TI Save 2 8 2 4 2 Edit a patched fixture number 1 Use the general purpose number keys to select a fixture that is already patched Example fixture number 4 The LED under key 4 starts blinking to indicate that fixture number 4 is selected Xciter shows the patch data 42 Xciter user manual Patch Fixture 4 1D gt ame 90 ODNo Master Pan Invo P T Swapo mA ome 1 Tilt Invo Depending on the orientation of the patched fixture on the rig you can inverse the pan inverse the tilt or swap pan and tilt This is a global setting for the fixture to make pan tilt control with the joystick easier As you will see later in this manual you can still invert channels for your show in the programmer Press the softkeys next to the options to toggle th
112. r DIM and shutter SHUT or STROB Close the dimmer DIM again but leave the shutter SHUT or STROB open because the effect is coming on top of it We will use a positive direction square wave SQR25 Access the effects dialog from the advanced menu of the scene editor Select the DIM channel and assign generator number 11 to it On the left side you see the current shape that will run on top of the DIM channel This is sine by default Press the softkey next to it Xciter shows the list of available shapes Use SCR1 to scroll through the list until you see Sqr25 Select it by pressing the corresponding softkey on the right side Set the Speed value to 40 and the Swing value to 255 This will make the dimmers flash on and off The parameter Speed determines the rate of flashing The parameter Swing determines the maximum intensity of the dimmer Unlike the example with the circle the Sqr50 shape only drives the channel to one extreme in a positive direction If you increase the swing the dimmer will open more when it flashes If you decrease it the dimmer will open less Set the Fdlay or fixture delay value to 30 degrees This will cause a delay between the flashing of the dimmers This parameter only works if you have multiple fixtures selected Once you got the hang of the effect generator you can create dimmer chases in a few seconds But most of all you can instantly change the behavior of the
113. r open and the color to white You have a color chase running on layer B This color chase has a higher priority than the cue scene see process hierarchy on page 21 Thus the colors will be visible on the output If you deactivate the color chase the cue scene will take over the color channels and set them to white 15 1 2 Sequence trigger and step mode The trigger and step mode of each sequence is visible at all times Take a look at the indicators to the right of each sequence Trigger indicators I Internal M Manual N None A Audio B BPM Step mode indicators gt Forward One shot freeze One shot release lt Backward A Bounce Random Any combination of trigger and step mode may occur Example Default you see I gt which means internal forward You can change the trigger and step mode for each sequence live 1 Press the softkey to the right of the sequence you wish to change Xciter displays the trigger and step mode dialog OAudio ForwardiH OManual ReverseOl BiInternal Bouncet O OBPM 60 D RandomoO 2 Select another trigger with the softkeys on the left The second softkey on the left toggles between trigger Manual and None 3 Select another step mode with the softkeys on the right The first softkey on the right toggles between step modes Forward One shot freeze and One shot release 4 Press ENT to keep the settings or ESC to return to the previous settings Xciter retur
114. re 2 fixture 3 fixture 4 lt gt L lt gt LJ lt gt LJ lt gt Active channels Active layer M coLwt DIM COLW1 DIM COLW1 DIM COLW1 stored lt 255 gt lt 255 gt lt 255 gt lt 255 gt Active channels Inactive layer Bim com DIM COLW1 DIM COLW1 DIM COLW1 NOT stored When you are modifying color values Xciter puts them in both layers The color values are stored because they reside in the active layer fixture 1 fixture 2 fixture 3 fixture 4 Active layer lt gt 040 lt gt 040 lt gt 040 lt gt 040 Active channels y DIM COLW1 DIM COLW1 DIM COLW1 DIM COLW1 stored Inactive layer lt 255 gt _1040 lt 255 gt 040 lt 255 gt 040 lt 255 gt 040 Active channels H DIM COLW1 DIM COLW1 DIM COLW1 DIM COLW1 NOT stored After you have stored the values and wish to start a new scene from scratch you need to clear the programmer Press CLEAR twice to clear both layers of the programmer giving control back to the underlying processes of the show see process hierarchy on page 21 You can also press ESC to exit the programmer and return to start from scratch Xciter user manual Program features fixture 1 fixture 2 fixture 3 fixture 4 lt gt L lt gt LJ lt gt L lt gt Active channels Active
115. re is the same for all DA buttons Or press ESC again to return to the patch menu Upon ESC Xciter asks whether you want to store the changes to the patch table if you have made any Press Yes to store and exit or No to exit without storing Xciter user manual Auto start 8 3 Auto start When auto start is enabled Xciter will run a certain cue list after startup As you will see in the cue list editor you can also execute lamp procedures in the cue list Example If the operator is late other people who do not know the console can still do a lamp on and start up a small show with the auto start Of course you need to select a cue list that contains a step with lamp on to do this 1 Press Auto Start in the setup menu to call the auto start dialog Select a cue list to Auto start Cue list 0 00 2 Use page keys 1 8 and general purpose number keys 1 20 to select the cue list you wish to auto start The page and number of the selected cue list appears on the bottom line 3 Press ENT to confirm or ESC to cancel Upon ENT Xciter shows the message Auto start settings stored Press any key Press any button to continue 4 If you wish to disable the auto start feature press CLEAR Xciter asks for confirmation Press Yes to confirm or No to cancel 5 Press ESC to exit the auto start dialog Xciter user manual 53 Access level 8 4 Access level The access level determines how accessi
116. rtain physical channel Xciter will not send out a higher value on that channel even when you put the logical channel fader on a higher value This is again very useful if you want to prevent 220V dimmer packs from going past 110V Low Limits By default this value is set to 0 the lowest possible value for a physical channel If you set this parameter to a higher value for a certain physical channel the Xciter will not send out a lower value on that channel even when you put the logical channel fader on a lower value This parameter is useful when you want to put a preheat voltage on the light bulbs of your PAR cans To set these different parameters a Press Test value High limits or Low limits to jump between the different parameters being displayed Example Push the softkey until you see Low limits next to it This means the low limits of the patched channels are currently displayed in the fader LCD b Use the fader to adjust the values Example Set the low limit of channel 101 to 30 8 There are some additional tools to in the dialog to accommodate easy navigation and display additional 8 2 5 4 1 2 50 information on the fader LCD With Next used you can jump directly to all the physical channels that are currently patched to the selected logical channel With Unit names or Channel names you can toggle the display between the names of units and channels Note that the fader LCD also displays units
117. s 3 1 1 Scene Scene scene time active channels A scene represents a single look of the lighting rig The scene contains all the logical channels you programmed to create the look see section 8 2 3 of this manual for an explanation of logical and physical channels Later on in this manual you will discover that it is not necessary to program all channels inside a look You only need to program those you want to change called the active channels The rest of them remain inactive transparent The scene has two timing parameters attached to it Scene Time ST and Fade Time FT These parameters determine the transition from the previous scene to the current scene If you are not using cue lists the scene time is of no consequence So if you are calling up the scene manually with a cue button the fade time will determine the transition rate from the previous scene to the scene you just selected Xciter can hold as many scenes as its memory allows The maximum number of scenes will vary because memory usage depends on the scene content number of active channels 3 1 2 Sequence Sequence A sequence consists of steps in a sequential order Although sequences are meant to contain multiple steps up to 99 you can store one step sequences Later in this manual you will discover that when you store a single scene to a playback you are actually storing a one step sequence Each step in a sequence has timing parameters that determi
118. s in the programmer on layers 5 and 6 These layers have a higher priority see priority table thus you override the PAN and TILT values of the background scene This action is also called manual fixture override DIM PAN TILT COLW 100 Programmer active Programmer inactive 255 128 24 Background Scene 255 80 100 Result on DMX Xciter user manual 21 The Xciter philosophy Example 2 You have programmed a color value in the background scene During the show you can override this color with a playback fader because it will be running at a higher priority DIM PAN TILT COLW Ea ea 255 128 45 Background Scene 255 128 3 4 2 Dimmer channels are HTP Playback fader at full Result on DMX Dimmer channels include fixture channels with the label DIM and all channels of dimmer units They do not follow the priority scheme described above Instead they are HTP Highest Takes Precedence This means that the highest value is applied to the DMX output no matter what the priority of the process is Example 1 You set the dimmer of a certain fixture to fully open in the background scene You will find that you cannot close it with a playback fader You can only do it with another background scene 3 4 3 Transparency When you program a scene or sequence on the Xciter you are only storing the logical channels you used to program the look i e the so called active channels When you run that scene or sequence in the show the
119. se the audio feature 2u0ursnsunsnennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnenn 81 10 9 How to use the MIDI feature eee cececeeeneeeceeeeeeeeeeeeee cae eeeaaeeeeeeeesaaeeeseaeseeeeeseaaeeesaeeeeneeeaes 82 10 10 How to use the Master feature 20usn40snnnsnnnnnnnnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nn 82 10 11 How to use the BPM feature nenn 82 Chapter 11 Effect generator examples uuuuuununnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 85 RSR ole e 85 11 2 How Ee 86 11 3 HOW EE 87 Chapter 12 Effect Macros siirsin ee 89 12 1 Greate ani effect Macro wwii amaria aipa eaaa aa a aana aE Aaa AE A aa aaa Aaaa T aai aa Aa tAd 89 122 R callanetfect Ee e DE 89 12 3 Important to knoW 2 2 2 re rn AE PAR RI Mase niet Een tein 89 Chapter 13 Storing tO Memory uuusuunsnsnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 91 13 1 Store ds Hl 91 13 1 1 Assign directly to TEEN 91 13 1 2 Assign directly to playback Toder nenn 91 13 1 3 Store to list assign later unnssensnneenensnnnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnennnnnnsnennnn nenn 92 13 2 Store as background scene 92 13 24 ASSIgni Are e TEE 92 13 2 2 Store to list assign later unnsuensnnenennnnnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnn nenn 92 aere as Preseb eege eeh 92 EE EE EE 93 Chapter 14 Editing existing elements uuuuunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 95
120. ss again Leave the channel patched for this example Press STORE or ESC to patch all the newly selected physical channels to the logical channel This will also bring you back to the previous dialog where you can select another logical channel for editing Notice that physical channel 111 has been added to the list of logical channel CHO1 Xciter user manual 47 Patch 8 2 5 3 Soft patch advanced settings In the previous example we have only touched on a small part of the soft patch In this section we will cover the more advanced features of the soft patch 1 Press Dimmer Patch in the patch menu Xciter prompts you to select a dimmer unit Soft patch Select dimmer unit CH Soft patch Channel count 6 DMX 101 3 4 5 6 CHO2 CHO3 CHO4 CHO5 CHO06 If you have followed the first example correctly dimmer unit 1 should still have 6 logical channels patched to physical channels 101 106 If your dimmer unit has more than 6 logical channels or faders you can scroll to other pages of channels with the centre top scroll wheel As you press the bump buttons underneath the channel names note that the main display on the right shows a list of the physical channels attached to the selected logical channel If you have not used the soft patch before there should be only one physical channel in the list each time If there are more than 6 physical channels attached to the fader use the top right jog wheel to scroll
121. sssrnssrrssrrssrrssrns 65 9 6 4 Channel status indicators srs44srnnannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nen 65 9 6 5 A two layered programmer sean eeeeaeeeceeeeceaeeesaaeedeaeeseeeeeesaeeeeeeseeeees 66 9 6 6 Pr amp sets ende en anne 67 Ree AE ed WEE 67 9 7 Scene sequence editor ursnssrnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnannnnannnnen 67 9 7 1 Toggle DMX percentage display nn 68 9 7 2 Add Insert and modify SCENES unuensnsesennnnnneennnnnnnennnnnnnennnnnnnennnnnnennnennnnannennnannennnann 68 9 7 3 Modify scene and fade me 69 97 4 lei EE 70 9 7 5 dE EE 71 9 7 6 L mp Reger TEE 71 eT MVC EE 72 Ge uge TEE 72 9 7 9 ele 73 9 7 9 1 Copy ascenetothechpboard 73 9 7 9 2 Paste a scene from the clipboard 74 Chapter 10 Effect generator uuuununssnannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 75 10 1 How to apply effects to logical channels ssesseeesesesinesrnssinesinssrnssirssinssrrssrnsstnnnsrnnsrnnsrnnsnns 75 10 2 The effect parameters A 76 19 3 BASIGSSNAPOS ierann rann o E E a EE EEA E E ETE EE EEA OET 78 10 4 Bounce and reverse mode eccecececeecceeeeeseceeeeeeseceeeeneeeeeeaeeeeeeenecesesnsneeeeesssneeeessneeeeeennes 79 10 5 How to synchronize logical channels AA 80 10 6 How to use the modulating generators generators 1 80 10 7 How to use the BPM generators generators 2b1 2 81 10 8 How to u
122. t applies the value 0 to the channel If you wish to get rid of the preset on a certain channel you need to press the corresponding bump button until the channel is transparent indicator reads Then you just touch the fader again to reactivate it as a normal channel without preset To get rid of all the preset modes in the programmer you can hold EDIT while you press CLEAR This will clear out all values preset modes and effect parameters from the programmer so you can start from scratch 9 6 7 Undo function In the next section you will see that the editor automatically stores changes when you scroll to another step The undo function comes in handy if you accidentally change a value by touching a fader or you realize that you are changing the value of the wrong step With the undo function you can recall the last stored values Simply press CL the cue list button serves as the undo button when you are inside the programmer 9 7 Scene sequence editor When you select devices or edit a scene the scene sequence editor appears on the main LCD As you can tell from the name you use the same editor to create both scenes and sequences The scene editor simply turns into the sequence editor the moment you add multiple scenes The editor actually has two screens One with the essential functions you need to create a scene and another with advanced functions You can swap between them with Scene 00 00 BT 1 0
123. t commonly used mode for that type of channel it will save you a little time during programming With Invrs or inverse you tell the Xciter whether or not to invert the value before sending it out on DMX Example Your fixture s dimmer opens at 0 and closes at 255 instead of the other way round If you invert the channel it will be inverted twice which results in normal control over the channel Deflt Lolim Hilim Fa Sn 0 0 255 Snap Use the arrow keys or the top right scroll wheel to select a control channel D Press EDIT to set the parameters of the selected channel Use the faders to modify the parameters of the selected channel To fine tune a value you can hold the bump button under the corresponding parameter while you turn the top centre jog wheel o d If you are modifying the channel name use the bump button to toggle between coarse and fine MSB and LSB Upper case indicates a coarse channel lower case indicates a fine channel e STORE to store the parameters of the selected channel Repeat the previous steps a ei until you have configured all channels Xciter checks whether you have configured all channels before exiting the fixture definition editor If not Xciter asks you to retry Press ESC to return to the fixture definition editor Press Advanced Config to go to the advanced configuration menu Xciter user manual 35 Fixture library Shut close 0 Se Lamp on proc La
124. t to spread out Xciter brings up the editor and programmer Open the dimmer and shutter to see the beam Activate the PAN and TITL channels and position them so you get a clear projection on the floor Press FAN Ctrl in the advanced menu of the editor or any other to cancel Select a channel Ga to FAN fader key Press the bump button of the channel whose values you wish to spread across the selected fixtures Example press the bump button under the PAN channel Seele HE SM See Scene 00 00 Fanning PAN Xciter user manual Program features 127 0 000 CENTRE FAN FINE Channel PAN Xciter brings up the fan control dialog There are three parameters to adjust the spread out 1 With CENTRE you adjust the base value of the channel In our example that would be the centre position of the spread out 2 The FAN parameter determines how much the channel is spread out across the selected fixtures 3 The FINE parameter is used to fine tune the spread out when you are dealing with a 16 bit channel 6 The FAN parameter has an additional feature for quick programming By pressing the bump button under the FAN parameter you invert the action of the parameter A symbol appears in front of the FAN and FINE values to indicate whether they are inverted or not Example press the bump button under FAN a couple of times and witness the effect on the spread out 7 Once you are satisfied with the look you press ESC t
125. te something 1 Press Copy Paste in the advanced part of the editor Clr eff Add eff All Copy Add Scene 00 00 Rpl eff CLear Replace 2 Select one of the following paste options 74 Press Add to add the look in the clipboard to the current look If the logical channel already has a value in the current look that value will not be replaced by the value in the clipboard look Press Replace to replace the current look with the look in the clipboard The current look will be gone Press Add eff to add all the effect parameters from the clipboard look to the current look Logical channels that already have effect parameters will be left unmodified Press Rpl eff to only replace the effect parameters of the current look with the effect parameters of the clipboard look Press Clear to get rid of the channel values from the clipboard look inside the programmer The effect parameters will remain This is useful if you want to get rid of all channels but want to reactivate some and keep the same effect running Press Clr eff if you want to clear all the effect parameters that were present in the clipboard look This is useful when you want to return to the static look of the clipboard The All modifier if only relevant when you are creating or editing a sequence When you hold all while you press one of the previous functions that function will be applied to all the scenes in the sequence Example
126. teps 3 8 until you have added all the steps you need 10 Press STORE to store the cue list to memory Press any key to confirm the message that follows Xciter user manual 105 Run mode features 11 Press ESC to leave the cue list editor Xciter will return to cue list selection where you can launch the cue list 15 5 3 Run cue list 1 Make sure you have selected a list with content 2 Press CL to run the list List 1 01 Step 1 01 PP 1 01 Cue 1 01 When the cue list is running the following information is displayed on the main LCD e List the current cue list the one you just selected to run e PP the playback page that is displayed on the fader LCD e Step the current step in the cue list along with its parameters on the right side e Cue the cue that is attached to the current step 3 All transitions between steps are automatic except for steps with the GO option When you see a GO on the second line of the LCD Xciter is waiting for an action from the user The right arrow button starts blinking Press this button to proceed to the next step 4 Press CL at any time to stop the automated show and return to the cue list selection to launch another one Note that playbacks are also available during the automated show As the cues are launched in the list the linked playback pages will also be brought up Use the general purpose number keys or centre top scroll wheel to scroll through the pages man
127. th the softkeys next to their labels A selected channel is indicated with the symbol lt If there are more than 3 use the arrow keys or the top right jog wheel to scroll through the list Press EDIT to assign a generator number to the selected channel s Xciter prompts you to select a generator number The significance of selecting a number will be explained later Use the top right jog wheel to adjust the value Or press CLEAR until the value reads 0 and use the general purpose number keys 1 10 to input a new value 10 being the 0 Example choose effect generator number 10 Press ENT to confirm the new value or ESC to abort and return to the previous value Xciter displays the new status of the channels on the main LCD It shows that a sine shape is running on effect generator 10 affecting the PAN and TILT channel Xciter user manual 75 Effect generator Scene 0 00 None Sine Sine Speed Swing Coffs Cdlay Fdlay Span lt o gt lt Oz e 0 gt 0 0 0 8 Use the faders to adjust effect parameters Remember that you can also fine tune a parameter by holding down the bump button while you turn the center top jog wheel 9 Once you are satisfied with your settings Press ESC to leave the effect dialog and return to the scene sequence editor or refer to the following sections for more advanced features 10 Repeat these previous steps if you want to apply an effect to other active channels If you want
128. the advanced function menu to enter the preview dialog gt Forward gt Intern CH 1 02 Manual step lt Xciter starts running the sequence The scene counter on the bottom left indicates the current step From this point on you have several options to run the sequence 2 To toggle the run mode press the first softkey on the left To toggle the trigger mode press the second softkey on the left To step through the sequence manually press Manual step Some of the trigger modes have extra options When the audio trigger is active the top left jog wheel serves to select the 4 band pass filters When the BPM trigger is active the top left jog wheel adjusts the number of beats per trigger 9 7 6 Lamp procedures In the lamp procedures you find the lamp on lamp off and lamp reset macros The macros need to be defined in the fixture definition otherwise they will not work when you call them If they do not work you need to check whether they are defined correctly see Fixture library on page 34 1 Press Lamps in the advanced functions menu to enter the lamp procedures menu Lamp On to strike the lamp of the selected fixtures Lamp Off to put out the lamp of the selected fixtures Reset to reset the selected fixtures Xciter user manual 71 Program features 2 Press ESC to exit the lamp procedures 9 7 7 Invert You have already seen that you can invert control channels in the fixture definit
129. the beginning Example You create a circle and put the effect Xciter user manual 79 Effect generator generator in bounce mode That will make the circle go back and forward at a certain point instead of going round and round e lt The effect generator is running reversed The effect generator will cycle through the effect shape in the other sense Example When you first create the circle the light beam is turning clockwise When you put the effect generator in reverse it will turn counter clockwise e The effect generator is bouncing reversed This is just a combination of the two modes above In some cases this may result in an attractive effect Example You have the beams of two fixtures bouncing next to each other but you want the beams to bounce in opposite directions To do this select the first fixture and put the effect generator in Then select the other fixture and put the generator in 2 Now you can try to combine the modes described above on separate channels Example deselect the TILT channel to toggle the modes of the PAN channel only As you can see the possibilities are virtually limitless and we have not even touched different shapes yet 10 5 How to synchronize logical channels All parameters apart from the speed parameter which is a function of the effect generator can be given a different value for each channel Therefore logical channels that have the same effect generator number are synchronize
130. tning storms or when unused for long periods of time Refer all servicing to qualified service personnel Servicing is required when the apparatus has been damaged in any way if the power cable or plug is damaged liquid has been spilled or objects have fallen into the appliance the appliance has been exposed to rain or moisture does not operate normally or has been dropped Xciter user manual 9 Installation Chapter 2 Installation 2 1 Hardware Most of the hardware connections are on the rear panel of the console MAINS INPUT MIDI SERIAL DATA LINK XPANSION as 2 a as 2 1 1 Power connection The Xciter does not need a mains adapter It takes main supply directly via the IEC mains connector The power supply will automatically adapt to the mains voltage that is used in your area The power supply is quite insensitive to power drops It can handle drops of up to 0 5 s The power supply is auto ranging e 90VAC 250 volts AC e 50Hz 60Hz The power rating is indicated on the serial number label that can be found on the base of the fixture 2 1 1 1 Installing a plug on the power cable Warning For protection from dangerous electric shock the fixture must be grounded earthed The AC mains supply must have overload and ground fault protection The mains plug is the power disconnect device for the fixture Note that when the mains input plug is attached the unit is connected to the mains power circuit The mains input plug
131. to apply an effect to a channel that has not been activated yet you have to go back to the editor activate the channel in the programmer and return to the effect dialog 10 2 The effect parameters The ideal example to explain the effect parameters is a circle on two or more fixtures Make the circle from Effect generator examples on page 85 We recommend using moving mirror fixtures scanners If you have already made all the examples you probably have a good feel of the effect generator already In this section we will have a more theoretical approach to the effect parameters e Shape The basic shape to create a circle is the sine The shape is a waveform that is added on top of the base value you set in the programmer This shape changes the values of the logical channel in time It is actually doing automatically what you do in the programmer to change the value of the channel But the value changes according to this constant pattern in a certain time frame 255 100 Base value 128 Swing 1 time frame e Speed With the speed parameter you can adjust the time frame The lower the value the more time it takes for the pattern to complete a full cycle Thus the movement will be slower 76 Xciter user manual Effect generator 255 255 Base value 128 Base value 128 Swing 100 Swing 100 0 0 1 time frame 1 time frame Swing With swing you set ho
132. ts to cue page one It is waiting for you to launch a cue or playback 2 Use the page keys if you want to go to another cue page Use the general purpose number keys to select a cue The button of the activated cue starts blinking The basic dialog is the first screen to pop up It shows you the sequences that are currently assigned to the selected cue This dialog also gives you the controls you need to manipulate sequences live 3 Press CUE again if you wish to exit cue mode Leave 1 0 dialog 2 To prevent you from accidentally leaving the cue dialog Xciter asks for a confirmation Press Yes to leave cue or No to stay Upon leaving cue Xciter kills all running processes BG scene sequences and override playbacks and goes back to the intro screen All fixtures get library default values 15 1 1 Activate deactivate sequences You can activate and deactivate each sequence separately The on off state is temporary meaning the sequence will default back to on the next time you enter cue mode To prevent this you can store the on off state of the sequences inside the cue by pressing STORE in the cue dialog Press the softkey on the left of the sequence to toggle it on off A blinking softkey indicates a running sequence A constantly illuminated softkey indicates an inhibited sequence An unlit softkey means the sequence is not running Xciter user manual 97 Run mode features Example The cue scene sets the dimme
133. u Midi out test Key Fader test Available memory Preset memory 8 8 1 Key Fader test Warning Disconnect lighting rig from DMX before entering Important As soon as you enter the Key Fader test Xciter sends out a value pattern on all DMX channels This should not harm your fixtures but it may cause them to behave in the strangest ways Press Key Fader test in the test menu Midi note 00 00 49 31 KEY FADER TEST DMX Bad There are several tests you can perform 8 8 1 1 Key test You can test all keys except the power and ESC key Their working is obvious because you need them to power the console and escape once you are done with the tests To perform a proper test you should press all the keys at least once A key that is working properly should switch on its own backlight except for the joystick push action On the bottom line of the main LCD two different key codes should appear one when you push and hold the button and one after you release it The key code is displayed in two formats the first value is decimal the second one hexadecimal The jog wheels also produce two different key codes when you turn them clock and counterclockwise 8 8 1 2 Fader and Joystick test Move all faders to their extremes completely up and down at least once Their values are displayed in the fader LCD A normally working fader should bring the corresponding value in the LCD to 0 when it is completely down
134. ually If you have some audio triggered sequences in the cues or playbacks you can access the audio settings with You can adjust the audio settings the same way you do in cue mode 15 5 4 Clear cue list 1 Make sure you have selected a list with content 2 Press CLEAR to delete all steps in the list Are U sure to delete 1 02 No Yes 3 Press Yes to confirm No to cancel Xciter returns to cue list selection 15 5 5 Edit an existing cue list 1 Make sure you have selected a list with content Example select cue list 1 01 2 Press EDIT to call the cue list editor 106 Xciter user manual 10 11 12 Run mode features Cue 1 01 WT gt 10 0 S List 1 01 Step 1 03 WAIT Use the arrow keys or the top right jog wheel to scroll through the existing steps To create a new step after the last one press LOAD and follow steps 5 10 To insert a step before the current step hold SHIFT while you press LOAD and follow steps 5 10 To delete the current step press CLEAR Go to step 10 Press a page key followed by a general purpose number key to select the cue you wish to attach to this step Example Select cue 1 01 Use the second softkey on the right hand side to toggle between the step options WAIT FOLLOW GOTO LOOP LAMP_ON LAMP_RESET LAMP_OFF and GO Example Select the WAIT option Depending on the step option you choose you have to set different parameters Example WA
135. ue buttons If not assign directly for quicker and easier programming 13 3 Store as preset 1 Press Preset in the store dialog Xciter prompts you to select a preset number 92 Xciter user manual Storing to memory 2 Use the page keys and general purpose number keys to select a preset number The number of the selected preset appears on the main LCD The first digit is the page the second and third are preset itself Illuminated buttons already have presets in them 3 Press ENT to confirm storage or ESC to cancel Upon confirmation Xciter stores all the values in the current scene as a preset to memory 13 4 Update When you are editing scenes or sequences you may only want to update them not store them as new elements Press Update in the store dialog to update the scene sequence or preset that you have just edited This option is only available when you edit an existing item Xciter user manual 93 Editing existing Chapter 14 Editing existing elements For the safety of your show Xciter takes a clone of anything you edit When you are editing you are modifying this clone and not the original Xciter replaces the original if you select the update option in the store menu There are two ways to edit elements You can either use the edit menu from default in the intro screen or use the quick edit function during show Presets can only be edited from the intro screen Show elements can only be deleted
136. ure 9 4 Device groups To make device selection easier you can create 8 groups of moving lights and 8 groups of generic lights The order of selection is also stored in the group This means you no longer need to remember the device order when you create effects with delay across devices wave effects 1 Press FIX if you want to select fixtures intelligent lights or DIM if you want to select dimmers generic lights Select fixtures or dimmers Hold SHIFT and press a group button Release SHIFT 9 5 Fixture or Dimmer information If you have forgotten which fixture dimmer is assigned to a button Xciter can display this information while you are programming 1 Hold SHIFT while you press FIX or DIM and release Xciter displays the order of selection on the main LCD It also lights up the number keys that have a fixture patched to them Press one of the lit number keys to view information about the fixture dimmer that is patched to it Release ESC to exit information mode 9 6 The programmer When at least one device is selected the programmer pops up on LCD2 Use the programmer to create scenes and to take manual control of devices during a show je ess iss Jess DIM STROB PAN pant TILT tiltf 9 6 1 Active versus transparent channels The moment you modify a logical channel it becomes active Untouched channels remain transparent Active channels are either in fade or snap Fade means that the chan
137. urpose number keys 1 10 Press ENT to confirm ESC to cancel and return to the previous value Press FT 1 0 S to change the fade time Use the top right jog wheel to increment decrement the value Or press CLEAR until the value reads 0 and input a new value using general purpose number keys 1 10 Press ENT to confirm ESC to cancel and return to the previous value Note that when you select a timing parameter a G appears in front of the parameter to indicate that you are changing global timing The global timing gives the same timing to all steps Beware if you change global timing local timings are overwritten You can also set local timing for each step in the editor Do this by holding down SHIFT while you select the timing parameter Note that an L appears in front of the parameter to indicate that you are changing local timing of the current scene 9 7 4 Fade curve 70 Xciter can fade between scenes in three ways e Linear 255 channel value 0 255 time sec e Logarithmic 255 channel value 0 255 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 time sec Xciter user manual Program features e Exponential 255 channel value 0 255 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 time sec Use the bottom left softkey to switch between these fade curves and see what happens 9 7 5 Preview sequence Use the preview function to run the sequence in the editor before you actually store it to memory 1 Press Preview in
138. value 9 78 Xciter user manual Hsine Base value 255 Wsine 255 Base value 0 255 NB CO Base value 0 Sqr50 Base value 255 8 u Sarl2 255 i CH Dsine 255 Base value 0 Wsine Base value 255 Base value 255 7X Sqar25 255 Base value 0 Sqr12 Base value 255 Effect generator Dsine Base value 255 N A i SymSaw 255 Base value o Sqr50 255 Base value 0 I Sqr25 Base value 255 0 il Sqr6 Base value 0 Tooth Tooth2 255 255 Base value 0 0 u u Base value 0 Sar6 Base value 255 Base value 7 D 10 4 Bounce and reverse mode Before you can use this feature you need to assign an effect generator to a logical channel Take the PAN TILT example from the section How to apply effects to logical channels on page 75 to get started Make sure you have both the PAN and TILT selected 1 Hold SHIFT while pressing the softkey next to the shape name sine by default This will toggle the effect generator on that channel to a different mode The current mode is indicated by means of the following symbols e No symbol The effect generator is running in forward mode default e The effect generator is bouncing This will cause the effect shape to run back and forward instead of recycling at
139. ve to recall the scene you made before and start building from there or you would have to remember all the parameters to recreate the effect from scratch Note that the effect macros do not store fixture information This means that the delay across fixtures is not stored When you apply the effect macro in a scene Xciter applies all effects that you stored before but without delaying them across the fixtures you selected You need to set the fixture delay yourself if you want one This point is covered later in this manual 3 3 3 Preset 20 Presets are very useful when you change the rig fixture setup a lot Presets are logical channels or complete looks that you preprogram In the scenes and sequences you reference to those presets When you modify something in your rig Example move a fixture you don t have to modify or reprogram all your scenes and sequences You only need to modify the preset All scenes where you have used the preset will be modified as well Although presets require some experience they are worth checking out because they can save you a lot trouble when you modify the rig Xciter can store up to 160 presets depending on the preset content Example You move around with a band but the podium has almost the same setup every time When you use the presets in your show you only need to make small changes to those presets to make your show perfect again They will save you time positioning the fixtures in the rig or re
140. w much area the shape covers on the channel This is also called the amplitude of the effect 255 255 Base value 128 Base value 128 Swing 100 Swing 200 Y 0 0 1 time frame 1 time frame Coffs and Cdlay This parameter is only relevant when you have two or more channels that need to be delayed relative to each other The values of those channels are displayed in degrees Coffs is used when fine tuning individual channels It will only work when you have one of the channels selected Cdlay is an easier way of setting an equal Coffs between two or more channels When you set the swing and speed of the effect the fixtures were still moving in a diagonal line The effect of Coffs becomes clearly visible when you slowly bring up Cdlay from 0 to 90 You will notice the line getting wider until it finally becomes a circle at 90 degrees This because you create delay between PAN and TILT 255 TILT TILT Coffs 90 PAN TILT Cdlay 90 1 time frame Note Most moving mirrors do not produce perfect circles because they generate more pan than tilt The angle you are projecting at also affects the shape projected Fdlay and Span This parameter is only relevant when you have multiple fixtures under the same effect When Fday is set to 0 all fixtures get the same values from the effect generator In our case they are all at the same point on the circle When y
141. with USB connector c cceeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeeeeaeeeeaeeteaeeseaeeeaeeseaeeseaeeseaeeseaeeseaeetaee P N 06220003 Ordering information Xcter ciri ale ET P N 90736000
142. y Select the fixtures one by one and look at the channel indicators Example you have created a sequence and you are previewing it You notice that a certain dimmer is not fading Just select the fixture and run through the sequence steps Again it is very easy to spot the problem when you keep an eye on the indicators as you scroll through the scenes Xciter user manual 65 Program features 9 6 5 A two layered programmer 66 When you select one or more fixtures Xciter shows the programmer on LCD2 The programmer actually has two layers although you only see the top layer The top layer is called the active layer and the bottom layer is called the inactive layer The active layer has a higher priority than the inactive one When you adjust a control channel Xciter puts the value in both layers yet it will only store channels of the active layer That is the layer that you can see So the values you see are actually stored If you e Press CLEAR once you make all channels in the active layer transparent the channels in the inactive layer remain The channels in the inactive layer are not stored but you can still see their values on the output because the inactive layer has a higher priority than the show elements e Press CLEAR twice without making changes in between presses double click you make both layers transparent going back to the show or default e Hold down EDIT while you press CLEAR you will not only make
143. y you can make a channel transparent again if you accidentally activated it or decide not to have it in the scene any longer 9 6 3 Switching between DMX and percentage values Xciter can be toggled to display either DMX or percentage values in its fader LCD This is mainly useful for viewing logical channel values in the programmer but may also be used for other parameters like effects and fan control In the programmer or the patch simply press the top left softkey of the main LCD The fader LCD will toggle its display of values When displaying percentages the symbol will appear in the top corners of the fader LCD 9 6 4 Channel status indicators With the indicators it is very easy to see the status of all logical channels You can set each logical channel in the programmer to transparent fade or snap by pressing the bump button under that control channel EEN Iran rent channel e ansparent channe 255 Active channel in sna DIM H lt 255 gt DIM Active channel in fade 255 gt 255 lt Inverted channels DIM DIM E127 DIM lt 127 gt DIM Active channels with effect generator ee Active channel in fade with reference to preset 15 PEE Value is above or below library limits v ste 3 The value will not show on the DMX output Example you see that there is an effect running on a certain fixture but you do not know where it is coming from With the indicators you can spot the problem immediatel
144. ystick operation The speed parameter you set with the fader has no influence at all Each generator in the rage of 251 to 255 sets its speed differently Generator 251 divides the recorded BPM rate by 1 generator 252 divides it by 2 generator 253 divides it by 4 generator 254 divides it by 8 and finally generator 255 divides it by 16 1 Make the circle from Effect generator examples on page 85 to start with but assign effect generator 253 instead of 10 And stay in the effects dialog instead of pressing ESC 2 Tap the C F button in different rates and see what happens Besides this example of a circle you can try to use the BPM generator on the dimmer chase example as well The trick is to select the BPM generator 251 255 that follows your recorded BPM best You will notice that this also depends on the effect shape you are using 10 8 How to use the audio feature Xciter s effect generator allows you to put the audio signal itself on a fixture channel Since audio changes fast we recommend you use a fast fixture channel like the dimmer To use this feature you need a line level audio feed a 1 4 inch jack coming from the audio mixer 1 Make the dimmer chase from Effect generator examples on page 86 to start with but stay in the effects dialog instead of pressing ESC There should be a square wave running on DIM in generator 11 Make sure DIM is still selected they should have the lt symbol next to them

user manual

Contents

Download Pdf Manuals

Related Search

Related Contents