Software Changes
Software Changes
v1.5.6.4
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Macro Segments Macros now support fader moves and encoder changes as well as button presses. This enables complete recording and playback of macro segments. Macro timing and playback now uses a higher resolution internal clock enabling accurate playback of recorded sequences. MagicQ optimises fader moves to remove redundant steps. It is now possible to move steps in the Macro, View Data view press MOVE and then select the source followed by the destination. Multiple steps can be moved using SHIFT and the cursor keys. The macro data can be reordered if the times have been changed out of sequence using the REORDER soft button. The number of macros has been increased to 500.
MagicQ Automation MagicQ supports an automation system to enable it to automatically respond to both external, internal and timed events. MagicQ can trigger on external events such as MIDI notes, DMX input, serial input, timecode, and the remote contact input. MagicQ can also trigger on internal events such as system startup, system shutdown and system powerfail. In addition MagicQ can trigger on timed (scheduled) events.
v1.5.6.4
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ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Software Changes MagicQ now supports an Automation Window for managing all of the automated events. The Automation Window supports multiple events with each event being subject to specified parameters. Each event then triggers a particular MagicQ function this can be a function on a Playback, a Cue Stack, a Cue, a Page, a Macro or a Layout. MagicQ can take a parameter from the event trigger and pass it to the function for example, it could take the velocity from a MIDI note event and tigger a Playback level using that velocity. Events Scheduled MIDI note MIDI sysex Timecode Remote DMX input Serial port Startup Shutdown Power fail Functions PB a,r,level PB level PB activate PB release PB act FULL PB go PB back PB ffwd PB fbck PB jump Stack activate Stack release Stack level Cue activate Cue release Cue level Run macro Change layout Change page Change page release main Change page release all
v1.5.6.4
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ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Software Changes Show file name auto increment MagicQ now supports auto incrementing show file names. To start an auto incrementing show file, save a show file with the last part of the name set as _001. When you next press SAVE SHOW, MagicQ will suggest saving to _002. Press ENTER to accept, or edit the name to save to a different name. Note that in order to avoid accidentally saving to incrementing files, all 3 digits must be present - _1 or _10 is not supported. When the number _999 is reached MagicQ will not auto increment and will request a new name. Please note that over use of the auto increment feature will lead to high disk usage. It is important to clear out old versions once the show is finished. To delete all old revisions of the current show file, go to File Manager, and press SHIFT and REMOVE OLD REVS. This will remove all revisions of the current show file that have a lower revision number. It will not remove the current show file. Enabling / Disabling Zones from Cue Stack Macros It is now possible to enable and disable zones (groups of Universes configured in Setup, View DMX I/O, page right) using Cue Stack Macros. To enable a zone use the macro H5 and to disable a zone user the macro H6. For example to enable zone 2. H5/2 To disable zone 2: H6/2
Other Changes Modified behaviour of Swap mode and Execute Window. Cue Stacks activated from the Execute Window (or Stack Store Window) now operate as if faders have been put to 100% rather than flash buttons. Cue Stacks activated from the Execute Window will not cause other playbacks to swap unless they are set as Flash always swaps. ###0001473 Support for include of just the FX from a Playback using SHIFT + INCLUDE. Added extra protection to try to avoid losing settings if the console disc experiences a complete power off or reset from the white button.
Bug Fixes Fixed problem with reassertion of FX in playbacks. Macro 100 was not working. #0003917.
v1.5.6.4
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ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Software Changes Fixed problem with Cue timing when using Mini Wing. On some systems the system tick rate would be half the required rate causing fade times to take twice as long. #0000702, #0003620, #0003864 Fixed problem with Grab show in versions 1.5.6.0 and 1.5.6.1 Fixed problem with using the Edimax USB Wifi interface on MagicQ Pro 2010 consoles this was broken in v1.5.4.0 to 1.5.6.0. Requires kernel to be upgraded to kernel 3.9.2.0 this is included as part of 1.5.6.2. Setup, View System, View Status, Change Software and then select the number associated with kernel3.9.2.0. Fixed problem when sending patch from Capture to MagicQ. #0003914 Fixed problem with copying groups to Playbacks. #0003828.
v1.5.6.4
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Bug Fixes Fixed several major problems with recent betas since 1.5.4.0. We do not recommend you use betas 1.5.4.1, 1.5.4.2, 1.5.4.4 or 1.5.6.0 for live shows. Fixed problem that could make newly created Palettes work incorrectly, with all attributes from the palettes outputting 0 value. Fixed problem with colour picker on MagicQ consoles. Fixed problem with using FX which caused a reset. Mostly affected FX that can be applied to any attribute, but could also affect other FX. Fixed problem with multi console control this did not work in 1.5.6.0. Fixed problem with importing palettes that could cause cues using the palettes to go to all zero values. Fixed problems in MagicQ PC / Mac versions when using the on screen faders. If the mouse was moved outside the fader area then the wrong fader was changed.
v1.5.6.4
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Virtual Dimmers Virtual dimmers now take effect at the Patch level rather than at the Programmer level. This means that the Output Window, View Heads will show the virtual levels on the RGB channels (i.e. the RGB levels before the virtual dimmer is applied). The Outputs Window, View Chans, View DMX will show the actual levels output to the RGB channels (i.e. the level after the virtual dimmer is applied). The full head can be selected using the head number. The title bar of the Group, Pos, Colour, Beam windows will show +v for each head with a virtual dimmer. It is now possible to add virtual dimmers to a head in the Patch, View Heads view using a single action. Place the cursor on the head you wish to add a virtual dimmer for and then press SHIFT and ADD VDIM. You can use SHIFT + the cursor keys to select multiple heads. Virtual dimmers can only be added to heads that do not have an intensity channel. For heads with multiple RGB elements, a virtual dimmer will be made for each RGB element. Virtual dimmers added in this way will appear unpatched. Note that the virtual dimmers take up channels from the total channel count.
Other Changes Increased total number of pixels in Pixelmapper to 16384 to match the number of possible heads. Choose Dimmer has been moved in the Patch Window to the Choose Dim/Media button which enables direct selection of Generic Dimmer, Generic LED 3 channel or Media servers. Added many new personalities and improved existing personalities to enable better morphing between fixture types. There are now over 4,400 personalities.
v1.5.6.4
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ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Software Changes There is now an additional option in the desklamp brightness setting (CTRL + soft button E) named Always. When this option is selected the desklamps stay white even when the screen saves.
Bug Fixes Fixed problems with virtual dimmers - #0000229, #0002337, #0002226, #0001795 resolved. Fixed problem with pressing CANCEL when reordering FX could cause a freeze. #0002132 The release time on a Cue Stack did not take the instant flag of an attribute into account. #0002226. Fixed problem whereby pressing ALL to FULL button when using Intensity filtering in the Intensity Window could cause a reset. #0003201. Playing a macro using assigned button whilst a macro was running performed the original button function. #0002429 Preload Cues did not work when using Crossfader. #0002486 The PC Wing could reset itself when using the club master. #0002022 Fixed minor problems with ASCII show import. #0003618 The Output View Horiz didnt show all the information if only a few heads were patched. #0003631. The autogroup function might not work on dimmers, if adding dimmers to an existing show made under a previous softwarae version. #0002505
v1.5.6.4
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v1.5.6.4
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Bug Fixes Fixed problem with drawing of buttons in Linux version. #0002337 Fixed problem when using ChamSys 4 Port Interfaces in ChamNet mode this was only a problem in recent betas. Fixed problem with unpatching large numbers of fixtures. #0002317
v1.5.6.4
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USITT ASCII file import MagicQ now supports import of dimmer patch, group, cue level and timing information from USITT ASCII files. In the Patch Window, View Chans, Import USITT. MagicQ does not currently support import of non dimmer parameters or more complex fixtures as this is manufacturer specific and not specified in the USITT ASCII format. We will be happy to investigate whether we can add fixture import from the format of your console. Console desklamp control The console desklamp brightness, display brightness and LED brightness can now be controlled as a fixture within the programming of the show. Patch one Generic MQlamps at any free address. The fixture can be unpatched to ensure that it does not affect any real channel outputs. The fixture has the following attributes: activate master white desklamp blue desklamp main display wing display led set to 255 to take control of the console brightness master level for brightness
Note that the screensaver will still blank the display. Other Changes It is now possible to merge Cues together when importing shows.
Bug Fixes Fixed problem with time code record whereby it did not refresh the Cue Stack engine times immediately. Changing page and back would force a reload of the correct times after a record. Fixed problem with chases stopping working after some time. This was most often seen when using random chases with very fast times #002291.
v1.5.6.4
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Keypad Copying / Moving Cues It is now possible to copy and move Cues within a Cue Stack directly from the keypad using Cue Id numbers rather than the cursor keys and enter. The Cue Stack Window must be open (press the S button of the Playback two times to open it). COPY <from Cue ID> @ <to Cue ID> MOVE <from Cue ID> @ <to Cue ID> For example to copy Cue ID 1.00 to Cue ID 3.1 type COPY 1 @ 3.1
If the <to Cue ID> is not specified or is greater than the last Cue ID in the Cue Stack then the Cue is copied to the end of the Cue Stack. To copy Cue ID 1.00 to the end of the Cue Stack type COPY 1 @ If the <to Cue ID> matches a Cue ID already in the Cue Stack then the Cue will be inserted before that Cue ID. Multiple Cues can be copied/moved using THRU, e.g. COPY 1 THRU 2 @ 3
Cue Window The Cue Window, View Times, Simple View now always shows the list of possible attributes even when no heads are selected. There are new shortcuts for quickly opening the Cue Window hold the S button of the playback and press the Pos, Beam, Col, Int or FX buttons. The Cue Window will be opened with the cursor on the appropriate field.
Improved graphics in Normal Mode. Modified start splash screen just to have only the Continue Show button. The Help and New Show options have been removed. New shows can be started from Setup, View Settings, New Show. Help can be accessed by pressing the HELP button. The maximum grid width has now been increased to 1024 pixels. Calibration of the touch screen now uses 4 points instead of 2 points for greater accuracy and identification of swapped axis. It is now possible to move channels in the Head Editor. When making a new personality in the Head Editor the name of a range is now generated automatically from the range type.
Bug Fixes Fixed problem with parked channels when loading a show. If channels in the previous show were parked then the channels in the new show would not be parked. Restarting MagicQ or performing a soft reset would solve the problem. Fixed problem when using Cue Stack macros to release to change Page using the P command with the Cue Stack option Release On Page Change set. A reset could occur if there was no Cue Stack programmed on the Playback on the new page. Fixed problems with the new Patch Offset Update whereby it only worked with 8 bit accuracy. Fixed problem when using Encoder wheel E in the View Palette view to modify multiple parameters (multiselected using cursor) #0002211 Fixed problem with movies in the Pixelmapper not playing all the movie file. This only affected beta versions 1.5.1.0 to 1.5.1.2. #0002175 Fixed problem with changing pages on Playback Wings and Extra Wings. If keys had been pressed on the command line other a valid page number when pressing the PREV PAGE buttons on the wing then a reset could occur. #0002114 Fixed problem with generation of auto groups on dimmers. #0000537 Fixed problem with generation of centre auto group on grids. #0002068 Fixed problem with number pad on external keyboards not inputting numbers. #001093 Fixed problem when viewing Setup, View System, View Status on Linux PC systems. #0002097
v1.5.6.4
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Fixed problem which could cause a reset in the Media Window when copying layers without selecting a server. #0002108 Fixed problem with labelling using the on screen keyboard text would appear after typing the first character. Only affected recent betas. #0002095. The keyboard shortcut to open the Output Window opened the Output Info Window not the Output Window. #0001994. Fixed problem whereby when updating cues the cue could fade back up to the changed value. Affected merging of Cues that have a default fade in / out time. Only affected channels that were tracking through to the Cue which were being replaced with hard values in that Cue. Channels with hard values in the Cue would get updated immediately. #0001542 Fixed problem with playbacks on Execute Wing releasing on changes of Grand Master or Sub Master. #0001905 Fixed problem with setting 16 bit attributes using SET and the soft button when attribute display mode is set to normal. #0002121
v1.5.6.4
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Offsets (deltas) Added support for a quick method of applying an offset to channels such as a pan or tilt offset, or an offset on a colour scroll. To apply an offset, playback the Cues and then override only the parameters you wish to offset in the programmer. Then press the Update button. The Update options have been modified to include an extra option Patch Offset. Selecting this option applies a permanent offset to the channel in the Patch rather than modifying the individual Palettes and Cues. To remove the offset, playback the Cues and then activate the channels in the Programmer (hold SET and touch encoder to activate just an attribute or hold * and press SET to activate the whole head). Then press the Update button and select Patch Offset. Offsets apply only to LTP channels, not to HTP (Intensity) channels. The Outputs window shows channels with offsets in green colour. The Patch window shows offsets applied to Pan and Tilt in the Pan Offset and Tilt Offset field.
Other Changes Added a high disk usage warning and improved status information regarding disc usage. Status Window now shows status Shift and Ctrl when these keys are pressed.
Bug Fixes On MagicQ PC for Windows, MagicQ graphics could stop working after a while of constant changing windows or automated playback. This affected versions 1.5.0.1 to 1.5.1.0 only. We recommend changing to a non affected version. (#0001931, #0001805) The Pixel Mapper live feed function was broken in version 1.5.1.0 only. (#0001977) Recording TC using the RECORD TC function was broken in 1.5.1.0.only (#0001997) When using playbacks set with Cue Stack option All channels controlled LTP and reassert option All inc tracked with then reasserting playbacks did not always work correctly and sometimes snapped rather than faded. (#0001988) v1.5.6.4 15 of 86 www.chamsys.co.uk
Recording from DMX Input did not work as expected when using Hog II Warp mode or any mode that showed the Record Option toolbar. (#0001895) Fixed problem with patching media servers using the CHOOSE MEDIA SERVER method with media servers that spanned more than 1 universe MagicQ would patch over the universe boundary.
v1.5.6.4
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Synchronising Cue Stacks Added a new Cue Stack option for synchronising two or more Cue Stacks together. Set the Sync next playback to this one option. MagicQ matches the Cue Ids in the Cue Stack so it is possible to have different numbers of Cues in the Stacks. If there is no Cue Id matching in the next Cue Stack then it will remain at the current Cue. It is possible to have several Cue Stacks synced to one master Cue Stack by setting the option Sync next playback to this one on the master and each adjacent Cue Stack, except for the last one in the chain. MagicQ tries to match the Cue Id within each Cue Stack to the master Cue Stack.
Inter Console Messaging It is now possible to trigger message boxes from Cues in a Cue Stack. Simply add a comment field to the Cue in the Cue Stack starting with a !. When this Cue executes the message box will be shown. In Setup, View Settings, View Windows there is a new option, Message Window. This specifies where the message box is shown (main screen, external screen 1, external screen 2) and whether a network message is sent to other consoles. Setting Net Only results in messages only being sent over the network, not shown on the console where the Cue executed. By default the message box shows immediately for 5 seconds and then closes. The delay before the message box shows and the time it stays visible can be set using parameters inbetween the !. v1.5.6.4 17 of 86 www.chamsys.co.uk
!<delay>,<show length>! !10!Hello World !10,20!Hello World !0,0!Hello World // Delay for 10 seconds before showing message // Delay for 10 seconds and show message box for 20 seconds // Show message and do not close message box
If the comment starts with a !! instead of a ! then the console does an alert as well as showing the message. The alert flashes the main screen intensity and the desklamps to try to get the operators attention. Messages can be sent directly from the keyboard by entering text starting with a ! or a !!.
Pixel Mapper Improvements It is now possible to play back patterns specifically on multi element heads such as Chromlech Jarags (5x5 dimmers) or other LED tile squares. If the Pos FX is set to Mult head then any media, text or FX on that layer will apply to the individual multi element heads rather than across the entire grid. The same image will be placed on all the multi head elements. For best results the grid should be made of same size fixtures with equal spacing. The auto groups function in the Outputs Window, Plan View has now been improved to add an option to generate groups for each of the multi head fixtures in the chosen grid. These groups can then be use in a grid of groups to perform intensity and colour chases across all the multi heads. By using the first layer for the grid of heads, and the second layer for a grid of groups with colour mode set to multiply the FX on the individual multi heads and the FX on the complete heads can be mixed together. The number of groups has been increased from 1000 to 5000. This enables large numbers of multi head fixtures to be used, all with individual groups for the whole fixture. The number of Output Grids has been increased to 100. It is now possible to modify the speed of a Pixel Mapper FX by holding the S button and turning encoder X. Note that if the Cue also has a standard FX stored in it then this will change the normal FX speed, not the Pixel Mapper speed. Playbacks with their faders set to control FX Speed now affect Pixel Mapper FX speed as well as standard FX speed. It is now possible to zoom in /out in the Pixel Map in the View Grid view. It is now possible to move objects using encoders X and Y in the View Grid view as well as use the MOVE command button.
v1.5.6.4
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ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Software Changes Added a new Tile effect to the Pixel Mapper. Use encoders B and D to determine the level of tiling (i.e. the number of horizontal and vertical tiles). Added a new rotating line and half rotating line effect to the Pixel Mapper. The number of rotating lines and the width of the lines can be set using encoders B and D. Added a new expanding square effect to the Pixel Mapper. The number of squares and the width of the lines can be set using encoders B and D. Added a new 5 character high font specifically for use on Chromalech Jarags. This font will automatically be used if the grid is 5 or less pixels high.
User Waveform FX. In the FX Editor Window (FX Window, Edit FX) it is now possible to extract the user FX from a show file to the console. Press the EXTRACT USER FX soft button. It is possible to remove all user Waveform FX from a console. Press SHIFT + REMOVE USER FX.
Other Changes Improved Board test mode so that the title bar now shows how to exit the mode. Improved the action of the key to reset any SHIFT or CTRL keys held down.
Bug Fixes Fixed problem with 16 bit position fades when using a non zero pan offset or tilt offset in the Patch window. Sometimes the fade would jitter slightly when doing slow fades. The size of the jitter depends on the offset. If no pan or tilt offset is set (default is none) then there is no problem. Fixed problem with using Cue Stacks triggered from Cue Stack macros using the E and F commands, or by remote commands when the Cue Stacks had release times and stomping was enabled. Playbacks could get lost and eventually a no free playbacks message would be shown. This only occurs if stomping was enabled (default = disabled). Fixed problem with setting DMX addresses in reverse order when in Theatre/Hog II Warp mode. Fixed problem with setting FX crossfade on individual heads in the Cue Window.
v1.5.6.4
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Icons Modified setting of Icons so that it more closely matches setting of names. Press SHIFT + SET and then choose a window item or playback to set the item for. Once the icon has been chosen it now gets assigned directly to the item without having to press ENTER. Removing intensity levels from a Cue Support for removing intensity levels directly from Cues in the Cue Window. Also added a shortcut for removing an intensity from a Cue similar to the existing shortcut for adding a level to a Cue. Currently you can add a level to the current cue on a Cue stack by holding the S button and typing the new level for the channel e.g. hold S and type 1 @ FULL ENTER. To remove a level to the current cue on a Cue stack hold the S button and set the channel at the level . . e.g. hold S and type 1 @ . . ENTER.
Bug Fixes
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ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Software Changes Fixed lock up that could occur on MagicQ consoles when using the timers and counters in the Pixel Mapper. This problem did not affect Windows version. #0001244 Fixed lock up problem when using ChamNet this could occur if devices were set in ChamNet mode or when the Net Manager window was open. Seen mostly on MagicQ Rack Mount systems but could also occur on MagicQ consoles. All users using ChamNet should upgrade to this version. In some cases the web log file (magicwweb.log) could get very large and cause disc space problems. Users can delete the web log from the File Manager at any time. Auto activation of PB1 on start up did not work on MagicQ consoles - all the other activation methods worked fine. Therefore it is possible to work around it using an auto activated macro 1 or cue stack 1. #0001094. Fixed problem with using Faders with the setting HTP always active together with a release time. If the Cue stack was set as a default playback and the playback was not Page 1 then the playback would not release correctly and could go erroneously to 100% after some time. Fixed problem with Playbacks set to priority Above Programmer. HTP channels on these playbacks would still get overridden by the Programmer.
v1.5.6.4
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Layout Views The default Layout Views 2,3,4 and 5 have now been removed to enable users to make use of these schemes.
v1.5.6.4
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ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Software Changes It is now possible to name Layouts according to the standard MagicQ syntax; SET <select item> <enter name>. Previously the name had to be entered on the command line before pressing SET. It is now possible to record, name and remove Layouts 1,2 and 3 through the three spare hard buttons. Console Wing IDs When using MagicQ consoles with multiple Playback / Extra Wings (or multiple Execute Wings) it is now possible to set a Wing ID for each Wing. The required wing ID can then be set in Setup, View Wings to ensure that the Wings are identified correctly and control the correct Playbacks. Previously Wings could swap over if one was reset or they were powered on in a different sequence. Note that the Wing ID is only supported on new Wings with the most recent Wing firmware). The Wing ID is set by holding the reset button under the armrest of the Wing whilst holding the lower most Page UP and Page Down buttons.
Other Changes Colour scheme. The yellow colour scheme is now being obsoleted. It is still selectable for use in extreme sunlight conditions, but will be reset to the normal colour scheme when a new show is loaded.
Bug Fixes The . Button did not work on the remote devices such as iPhone/iPad/Android. Fixed problem with lamp on/off/reset shortcuts introduced in 1.5.0.1. The shortcuts erroneously affected all heads rather than the selected heads. Improved prompts on remote devices to explain that pressing 1 confirms yes, whilst pressing 0 is no. Fixed bug with morphing from a head with CMY (or RGB) but no colour wheel to a head with CMY (RGB) and a colour wheel. The Cyan base levels would get copied to the Colour Wheel. Any FX on Cyan(Red) would be changed to be on Col 1 rather than Cyan. Fixed problem with timecode over ArtNet in recent versions. The messages sent and received were incorrect and caused the times to be confused. This is fixed in 1.5.0.2, but both the transmitting console and the receiving console must be upgraded. #0001769 Fixed problem with the Magic Wand support. From versions 1.4.9.1 to 1.5.0.1 only Magic Wand II protocol would work. Now both protocols are supported.
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ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Software Changes Fixed problem with Execute Wing set with the top buttons in Execute Mode. The flash function did not work correctly. #0001644 Fixed problem with buttons on Extra Wings or Execute Wings when the flash button is set to toggle and there is a release time. #0001729
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Mark Cues are now indicated more clearly with highlighting. When setting fade times in the Cue Stack when a Cue already contains some fade times, then only attributes (Pos, Colour, Beam, FX) times that are non zero are changed.
Fixes Fixed problem with Cue Stack Window when in View Options or View Defaults. Changing between Chase / Cue timing would cause the window data to show incorrectly. Changing View would refresh the data correctly. Fixed problem with changing between sub menu tabs in the Setup Window sometimes the new sub menu tab would not be highlighted correctly even though the window data changed correctly. # 0000439 Fixed problem when using both an Execute Wing and a Playback/Extra Wing on a system if the Execute Wing was before the Playback Wing in the list of Wings then it would not work correctly. Fixed problem when using Group Masters together with Cue Stacks set to All Channels Controlled LTP. When using GO on different Cue Stacks the channels would dip down before going to the correct level. Extended the power off timer on Pro 2010 consoles as the power off was occasionally occurring before the Linux operating system had shut down.
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iPhone /iPad app version 2 Added support for version 2 iPhone / iPad app. The version 2 app enables the encoder wheels to control any parameters on MagicQ instead of just pan and tilt. In addition it is now possible to view the MagicQ windows including the Patch and the Outputs from the app. The version 2 app now includes views specifically designed for the resolution of the iPad the app will automatically detect which product it is running on and adapt the views.
Personalities and Real World Values MagicQ has been modified so that it is possible to display the attributes in real world values rather than in 0 to 255 DMX values. For example pan and tilt can be shown in degrees. The personalities have been renamed so that all the personalities now use the format manufacturer_name_mode.hed. It is possible to remove all old personalities (and all user created personalities) by pressing SHIFT and REMOVE HEADS in the File Manager. This removes all old heads and extracts the heads again from heads.all. Make sure all your user created heads are backed up to USB or to another system before removing all old personalities. The Personalities in the ChamSys library are now protected to avoid accidental changes to them MagicQ prompts the user before allowing changes to the personalities. In the Head Editor, original ChamSys personalities are indicated by an LO in the tile bar. If the personality has been edited it will only show L.
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Fixes Fixed problem with Pixelmapping on moving heads with CMY colour mixing rather than RGB colour mixing - the colours were inverted. Now it is possible to have both CMY and RGB fixtures in a grid and the colour will be mapped as expected. (#0000968, #0001193). Fixed problem with Pixelmapping where it did not indicate if too many pixel mapping layers were patched. It now displays an error message when trying to patch too many pixelmap layers from Outputs Windows, Grid View. The number of patched pixelmap layers is now shown in Setup, View Status, Show Data. (#0000122) Playbacks on the Playback Buttons on the Extra Wing and the Execute Wing set to toggle, would be released if DBO or the master faders were changed. (#0001021, #0001550) When running Cue Stacks from the Execute Window, chase speed changes would not take immediate effect. (#0001408) When copying multiple groups to the Execute Window the cursor selection in the Group Window would remain active after the copy was completed, causing confusion when selecting heads. MagicQ now clears the cursor selection after a move, copy or remove. (#0001526) Fixed problem with recalling Layout views whereby the offset within the window was not recalled. Affected recent beta versions.
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Fixes Fixed problem with Outputs 2, Outputs 3 and Outputs 4 window whereby these windows would not show View Chans, View DMX views correctly if Ouputs 1 Window was not also set to View Chans, View DMX. Now, View DMX is only available in Outputs 1 the other windows show a message to indicate the view is not available. Fixed problem with copying, moving and removing multiple items at one time whereby the source items were left highlighted. This was confusing to the user and could cause subsequent problems when actions were performed on the groups. This was particularly noticeable when copying to the Execute Window. In the Execute Window when using View Item to view a Cue Stack, if that Cue Stack is active then it is made the current playback. This allows Cue Stacks running from the Execute Window to be modified live. Fixed refresh problem with sub-menus in Setup Window when changing between View Settings and View Status. Enabled multiple item selection in Group Window using mouse move/touch drag. Modified Mark Cues so they are inverse highlighted. Record merging/removing to a Mark Cue now merges/removes with the previous Cue (i.e. the marked Cue). Including a Mark Cue includes the previous Cue. Setting fade times in the Cue Stack Window for Cues that already have some fade times now only affects the attribute types that already have times. For example if a Cue has Intensity and Position times then changing fade times will only affect Intensity and Position Times fade times will not be inserted on Colour and Beam. Fade times can be set for attributes times that have zero time from the View Times view of the Cue Window as before. If the Cue in the Cue Stack Window has no times then fade times will be added to all attribute types as before. When record merging to a range of Cues using the keypad it is now possible to use merge from a specific Cue to the end of the Cue Stack by omitting the end Cue Id after the THRU e.g. to record merge into Cue ID 4.0 and all other Cues to the end of the Cue Stack RECORD MERGE 4.0 THRU
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Fixes Fixed problem with reassertion when using the Playback setting Go Reasserts Channels = Non tracked and with Cue Stacks set to All Chans controlled LTP. When using single step Cue Stacks it would not reassert correctly. Fixed problem with auto palettes for fixtures with 16bit colour or gobo wheels.
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Network Manager A new Network Manager has been added to MagicQ for managing ChamSys Ethernet Interfaces. The Network Manager (Setup, View DMX I/O, Net Manager) can be used for monitoring and configuring ChamSys 4 Universe Ethernet Interfaces. Support has also been added for the fixed network MagicQ Wand Playback Remote.
Other Changes Added a new lowlight function accessed by pressing SHIFT and HIGHLIGHT. When active the selected head is lowlighted to the value in the personality. This allows each head in the current selection to be temporarily lowlighted to try to find a particular head without making a massive chane to the current lighting state. Highlight mode must be set to Advanced highlight/lowlight. When selecting FX from the FX Window the Programmer Window now gets updated so that the encoders control that FX rather than all FX.
Fixes Fixed major problem with personalities with repeated multiple elements such as Showtec Sunstrips and iPix BB4. In software versions 1.4.8.0 to 1.4.9.5 MagicQ when reloading a saved show MagicQ would not recognise these fixtures as multiple element personalities. If the personalities were then re-patched or unpatched then problems including resets could occur. All users using 1.4.8.0 to 1.4.9.5 should upgrade to 1.4.9.6 before re-patching repeated element personalities. Fixed problem with modifying the width parameter in FX when a Cue had more than one FX the width parameter would only work for the first FX in the Cue. Fixed problem with IP address after loading a show with its console settings using LOAD SHOW + CONS. The IP address and other network settings were not set correctly even though the new IP address was shown in Setup, View Settings Network. This could cause strange problems when using hot takeover or playback sync universes repeatedly enabling/disabling or faders flickering or appearing stuck. This could be worked around by re-entering the IP address to force it to be set correctly.
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Fixed Fan when using a sub selection of heads. Previously the fan was calculated over all the heads even if only a sub selection were in use. Fixed error in recent betas whereby setting Timecode In Type to Art-Net did not work. In these betas set it to Winamp. From this version set it to Art-Net when receiving timecode over Art-Net and to Winamp when receiving directly from Winamp when running MagicQ on the same PC as Winamp.
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Fixes Fixed problem with Remote Control whereby the console might not be visible on the network even when remote control was enabled. This could also affect the operation of multi programming and file network transfer. This problem only affected betas v1.4.8.1 to 1.4.8.4. Fixed problems with scheduled events when using a scheduled event on the first Cue of a Cue Stack. (#0001429) Fixed problem with move when dark (#0001426) When viewing values in the Outputs window for Media Servers the values for dynamic ranges such as Image are shown as numbers instead of as dynamic. Fixed problem on MagicQ consoles whereby the SET box could not be opened by clicking on the Input Window as it was already open but hidden. Pressing CLOSE fixed the problem.
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Execute Window Added support for solo button (also known as radio buttons) so that a group of buttons programmed as Cues or Cue Stacks can be set so that only one of the group is active at a time. Use soft button E to select Solo as the Item Type. The group consists of all adjacent buttons in a horizontal row that have their Item Type set to Solo. Solo buttons must be immediately adjacent. Empty items or Items that are not set to Solo will end the group. MagicQ Mac support In OSX 10.6.5 Apple introduced an incompatibility which means that the FTDI device driver used to connect to MagicQ Wings, MagicQ Interfaces and the Enttec Pro no longer worked. FTDI have worked with Apple to try to fix this issue and have issued a new driver which is incorporated into MagicQ Mac v1.4.8.3 and above. At this time we recommend Mac users to continue using OSX 10.6.4 wherever possible with either MagicQ stable version 1.4.6.5 or beta version 1.4.8.3. MagicQ users that have already upgraded to OSX 10.5 will need either to revert back to OSX 10.6.4 or to try MagicQ beta 1.4.8.3. Note that whilst we have tested MagicQ 1.4.8.3 with OSX 10.6.5 we do not yet have extensive user feedback.
Other Changes Modified defaults for Normal mode so that the options Select heads on keypad intensity set and defaults to yes. Modified Record Options to add CUE ONLY option. In order to gain space for the button, the explicit RECORD NORMAL button has been removed. To record normal simply turn off RECORD REMOVE and RECORD MERGE. CUE ONLY is only supported when using RECORD MERGE to merge into a Cue. Added protection in Setup, View Settings against accidentally setting numeric fields to 0 by pressing ENTER. Now set fields to zero using 0 ENTER. Added protection in Setup, View Settings against accidentally changing important multi option settings by pressing ENTER, such as product type and multi console options. Pressing ENTER on these options now opens up the options window.
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ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Software Changes Added support for release times on Cues Stacks running in the Execute Window and Cues Stacks released from Cue Stack macros. (#0000321) When using Media Servers if you name the Layers in the Patch, MagicQ will now use these names in the Media Window. (#0000604) The three spare Windows buttons are now labelled Layout 1, Layout 2 and Layout 3. They can still have macros assigned to them if required. Added two new FX, whitepulsergb and whitepulsecmy. These FX play back a white pulse on top of the base colour.
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ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Software Changes Fixes Fixed problem when jumping around Cues in a Cue Stack with zero fade times. The first time a Cue was used in a Cue Stack it might not execute correctly instead the Cue Stack would indicate Wait Go. This mostly affected Cue Stacks triggered externally by MSC or other remote interfaces. Fixed problem when exporting a show with Cues that have multiple FX in them. If the heads selected for export were not in the first FX in the Cue then the FX in that Cue would not get exported Fixed problem with using release times on Playbacks with FX which affected versions 1.4.7.1 to 1.4.8.1. If Playback 1 had no FX and Playback 2 had a FX and there was a released time on Playback 2 then sometimes when releasing Playback 2 the FX would make a jump during the fade out of the FX. Fixed problem with import show which affected versions 1.4.7.9 to 1.4.8.1. If the original show had media server 1 defined then the import show would lock up. Work around the problem by ensuring media server 1 type is none and layers = 0. Fixed problem with new FX engine in v1.4.7.0 to 1.4.8.1 whereby FX that were used sine and cosine curves (e.g. sine,cosine,circle,fig8) always ran at 100% crossfade regardless of the crossfade selected. Fixed display of input universes on VIEW DMX IO so that if the input type is set to None then it does not show clashes (with a *). Fixed problem with changing Playback Priority on an active Cue Stack whereby MagicQ would release the Cue Stack. (#0001191) Swap functionality now applies to testing of Cue Stacks in Stack Store Window, Execute Window, Cue Stack macros and remote commands. (#0001154) When using media servers with dynamic thumbnails the soft button on Encoder X could not be used to change images. Affected all media servers with dynamic thumbnails. (#0001090) When using the Insert Heads soft button to insert multi element heads into a Grid, if no heads were selected then sometimes heads could be added into the grid twice. The work around was to select the heads to insert into the grid before pressing the INSERT HEADS H button. (#0001100) When Next Page Changes to next used is set in Setup, Cue Stack Macro to change to Next Page (P0) switched to the next page instead if the next used page (#0001227) Fixed problem when using Execute Wing in Execute Mode and pressing a button set to Button (FL) in Execute Window. Now it will flash when the button is pressed, instead of toggling. (#0001718) Fixed problem whereby Cue Stack Window would sometimes open in the wrong mode particularly when used as part of Layout buttons. v1.5.6.4 38 of 86 www.chamsys.co.uk
When using Multi Programming and updating Palettes, Cues that use the updated Palettes might not be updated immediately on the other consoles. (#0001168). Fixed problem with the Reload Windows option for detecting multiple windows under Windows. Fixes to MagicQ Media Centre so that Winamp Settings get saved when closing the application (#0001162) and for Winamp DMX address not reacting (#0001159) Modified WYSIWYG drivers so they will install on PCs with screen resolutions less than 1024x768. (#0001165)
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Multiple Console Programming MagicQ supports programming of one show from multiple MagicQ consoles / MagicQ PC systems on a network. Multi console programming is made up of two functions. Firstly, multi programming enables multiple consoles to access one show file held on the master console with all consoles being able to make changes to that show file. MagicQ ensures that the slave consoles are synchronised to the master console show data. Updates from any console are synchronised across the network. Secondly, selective channel control enables different consoles to select and control different channels on the master consoles outputs. This allows any console on the network to take control of a set of channels in the lighting rig. Selective channel control can be used independently of multi programming to allow multiple consoles to control a lighting rig without multi programming capability. This could be used for example by a technician to test some lights on the rig from a slave console whilst programming is carried out on the master console. Note that previous betas had some support for multi programming however the functionality has now had more extensive testing and the configuration options have been simplified. Multi programming must not be used in the USA. Consoles set up for use in the USA have this feature restricted. Anyone using multi programming in the USA regardless of where they purchased MagicQ may be subject to legal action against them. At this time we recommend multi programming only for use during programming, not for use on live shows. See the latest manual for full details on how to using multiple console programming.
Counters and Timers in the Pixel Mapper There is a new page of media in the Pixel Mapper called Timers. This page is just after the media pages but before the live feed page. This page allows the selection of timers and counters to be output on the selected grid. The timers include the current time in seconds, minutes, days, month, year, and the day of the week. The countdown timers include seconds, minutes, hours and different combinations these are ideal for end of year / end of event countdowns.
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ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Software Changes The counters include both an up timer (stopwatch) and a selection of different down timers programmed to start at selected times.
Pixel Mapper Text Display There are two new modes added to the text generators in the Pixel Mapper. These allow single words and single chunks to be output to the grid one after another. When the mode is set to single words then MagicQ displays each word in turn. Each word must be separated by a single space in the text string. When the mode is set to chunks single chunks then MagicQ displays each chunk in turn. Each chunk must be separated by a single underscore (_) character in the text string. Space characters are displayed normally.
Astronomical Scheduled Events MagicQ now has the capability to trigger events based on the sunrise and sunset at the particular location. In order for sunrise and sunset events to occur correctly MagicQ must be configured with the correct longitude, latitude and time zones. These parameters are configured in Setup, View Settings, Mode. The sunrise and sunset times for the current location can be checked in Setup, View System, View Status. To set a scheduled event based on sunrise or sunset first set the Halt field in the Cue Stack to Scheduled (double click to change it). Then enter in the Wait field either R for sunrise or S for sunset. It is possible to set offsets on the sunrise and sunset times so the event is triggered a certain time before or after the sunrise or sunset. For example to trigger 20 minutes after sunrise enter R+0/20/0 To trigger 30 minutes before sunset enter S-0/30/0 Note that as with standard time based scheduled events this functionality is only supported on MagicQ PC systems when a MagicQ Wing or Interface is connected.
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MagicQ now supports the ability to control a PC running Winamp in order to synchronise audio and video playback with lighting. MagicQ can control the Winamp instance by patching a virtual Winamp personality which is then used to select the track, position and to start and stop the track. MagicQ can also accept timecode from Winamp and trigger Cues. In this case Winamp is the master of the system. Winamp can be running on a separate PC to the MagicQ system in this case you need to run Winamp and MagicQ Media Centre on the PC. The MagicQ console then sends Art-Net information to MagicQ Media Centre, which in turn triggers Winamp. Alternatively, both Winamp and MagicQ can be run on the same PC. In this case MagicQ interfaces directly to Winamp and it is not necessary to run MagicQ Media Centre. Support for direct interfacing is only enabled when connected to a MagicQ Wing or MagicQ Interface (not 3rd part interfaces or MagicDMX). Up to 4 different instances of Winamp are supported which allows up to 4 different tracks to be played simultaneously. Patch the Winamp personality on MagicQ for control of Winamp.
MagicQ Mac support In OSX 10.6.5 Apple have introduced an incompatibility which means that the FTDI device driver used to connect to MagicQ Wings, MagicQ Interfaces and the Enttec Pro no longer works. MagicQ 1.4.8.1 uses a different 3rd party USB driver for connection to Mac systems which we believe overcomes the incompatibility. At this time we recommend Mac users to continue using OSX 10.6.4 wherever possible with either MagicQ stable version 1.4.6.5 or beta version 1.4.7.9. MagicQ users that have already upgraded to OSX 10.5 will need either to revert back to OSX 10.6.4 or to try MagicQ beta 1.4.8.1. Note that whilst we have tested MagicQ 1.4.8.1 with OSX 10.6.5 we do not yet have extensive user feedback.
Other Changes Added options to remove button bitmaps and wallpaper using SHIFT + soft buttons in the Execute Window.
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Fixes 0001137 Fixed major problem with cloning of fixtures in version 1.4.7.3 to 1.4.8.0. Cloning fixtures would cause any multi part fixtures to lose the data that specifies the connection between the parts causing then to be displayed in the Patch Window on the wrong address generally all on the same address. The show would still work correctly but it would be impossible to view the actual DMX address of those fixtures or to change the address. Show files that have been affected by this should be loaded into 1.4.8.1 to fix the problem. 0001075 When using Tap to time on S buttons if was confusing to users as to how to select Cue Stacks. 0001105 Layout buttons do not change colour when changing colour scheme.
Fixed problem with text strings in the Pixel Mapper. Trailing spaces would get eliminated when loading shows.
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Added CLEAR button to the keyboard window to allow existing text strings to be cleared easily. Removed option Enable Undo. Undo is now always enabled.
Fixes Fixed use of PREV HEAD button when using odd/even with 3s, 4ths previously it always went to the next heads, not the previous heads. Fixed problem with new FX engine and Faders set to Size master when releasing the Playback when another Playback was also controlling the same attributes, then the size would jump back to 100%. Fixed importing of shows so that the Setup, View Media Server data is merged together. Moving single cells in the Output Plan View sometimes did a copy rather than a move. Fixed problem that meant that when recording to specific Cue Ids it did not always show the record options (remove/merge) correctly. 0001002 Fixed problem with FX continuing after release of a Playback. This could occur in tracking modes when using multiple playbacks if the FX was released when any of the FX values were 0 for the current FX step. Fixed problem which could cause a reset when setting a Swap in the Patch for multi element heads that have the main element after the repeated element such as Thomas Pixelines.
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ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Software Changes Fixed problem with multi element heads that have the main element after the repeated element such as Thomas Pixelines that could cause the DMX address in Patch, View Heads to be shown incorrectly as the main element of the head rather than the first channel (the first RGB element). This could cause serious problems when re-patching. Removed legacy bypass and override modes these are now obsolete and just caused confusion as they could be triggered by pressing F11 and F12 on PC keyboards.
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Pixel Mapping Added new mix types in the Pixel Mapper of no base and max with base. When any active Pixel Map layer is active (dimmer above 0%) then setting no base on that layer will make the Pixel Map effect ignore any base level for the controlled channels instead of adding to the base level. When any active Pixel Map layer is active (dimmer above 0%) then setting max with base on that layer will make MagicQ perform a maximum of the Pixel Map effect and any base level for the controlled channels instead of adding to the base level. Added new apply type to the Pixel Mapper of use int and fit use int. When these apply types are used the Pixel Mapper applies to the intensity channel of the fixtures in the grid instead of to the RGB channels. If the fixtures in the grid have no intensity channel then no pixel mapping is applied to the fixture. This is useful for example to use the pixelmapper on the intensity channel of moving lights or on strobes.
Improved external timecode processing. When timecode values jump (for example when changing tracks), now MagicQ checks for each active Cue Stack, whether the external timecode received is within the range of the first timecode value in the Cue Stack and the last timecode value in the Cue Stack. MagicQ will only execute a change of Cue if the new value is within the range controlled by that Cue Stack. This should help to avoid the erroneous execution of an entire Cue Stack. MagicQ now supports a timecode jump parameter. This is the number of frames that MagicQ waits before performing a jump. This allows spurious timecode values to be ignored.
Other changes Increased number of keyboard macros to 100. Support for timecode input from ArtNet. This function is only supported when connected to a ChamSys MIDI timecode interface - the interface acts as a dongle to unlock the functionality.
Fixes Fixed movie speed in the Pixel Mapper so that when set to 0 the movie stops completely previously it just played very slowly. v1.5.6.4 46 of 86 www.chamsys.co.uk
0000374 - fixed changing programming mode so that it does not release the playbacks. Fixed problem in View Palette view when deleting where not all selected data would get deleted. When morphing heads the head names now are maintained if they have been set differently to the head type. When the Execute Window is stored in a Layout, the Layout now remembers the View (Execute or Design). When naming Cue Stacks and Cues in the Execute Window the name follows through to the Cue Stack Store and Cue Store. The shortcut CTRL 0 on consoles has been removed (it effected a user soft reset) as it was too easy to press this key sequence accidentally. Fixed problem with activation of Cue Stacks from the Stack Store, Cue Store and Execute Window which if the option Fader Controls LTP was set to Yes. The LTP values output would sometimes be slightly lower than expected. Fixed problem when using the option All Channels Controlled LTP = Yes. Sometimes when recalculating the Cue Stack (either after editing a time or by merging/updating a Cue) channels could refade. This only occurred if tracking was enabled and the channels were active on another Cue Stack. The Outputs Window now highlights in blue channels being controlled by the currently selected playback for HTP channels as well as LTP channels.
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Fixes Fixed problem when changing the option Unused chans return to defaults to yes the option only took affect after the channels were next activated and released. Improvements to transfer of patch information from WYSIWUG to MagicQ when using large numbers of fixtures the patch transfer is now verified and checked on the MagicQ. To take advantage of these improvements you need to also upgrade the MagicQ WYSIWYG driver to version 1.0.9.0. 0000277, 0000358 Fixed problem with ACN Streaming DMX which could cause it to use an incorrect IP address. 00000054 The minimum values of a channel kept its value after repatching. Now channels return to 0 after they are unpatched. 0000772 When choosing a fixture in Choose Patch, pressing the File Name encoder could cause a reset. 0000910 Parked channels were affected by Playbacks in Swap mode. This could be worked around by setting a playback with these channels active. 0000919 0000790 Export patch shows unpatched fixtures at their last patched address Updating a Cue with more than 16 FX does not give an error message
0000919, 0000390,0000315 Fixes to external monitor background and to configuration. 0000528 The Blind keyboard shortcut did not work
0000795 The Default cue and Locate cue are now highlighted in the Cue Store to make them more obvious. 0000799 Tap to Time didn't work on FX in beta version 1.4.7.5.
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Joining / Split FX There is now a function to split some heads out of a FX or to join similar FX together in the Programmer use SHIFT and the JOIN FX and SPLIT FX soft buttons. When Split FX is pressed the currently selected heads are moved out of the FX that they are in, into a separate FX. If the selected heads are the only heads in the FX then no change is made to the FX. When Join FX is pressed MagicQ analyses all the FX in the programmer and joins any similar FX of the same type together. The speeds/sizes/offsets are retained until the enlarged FX are modified.
Cloning Fixtures There are now additional options when cloning heads. It is possible to choose whether both Palettes and Cues are cloned or just Palettes.
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ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Software Changes It is also possible to specify that FX are split when the heads are cloned so that the new heads are part of a different FX from the original FX. This function should be used with care when cloning multiple heads in order to avoid fragmenting the F X too much.
Execute Window It is now possible to view directly an item in the Execute Window using the View Item soft button. This makes it easy to change FX and Chase speed quickly. It is now possible to set a button in the Execute Window that is controlling a Cue or a Cue Stack to momentary rather than toggling. Move the cursor to the required item and use Soft button E to set the item type Button Fl.
Other Changes There is now a safety timeout when using keypad syntax with the Page, Group and Colour, Position, Beam buttons. If the button is pressed and no other button is pressed for 10 seconds then the button is removed from the syntax line. This prevents accidental changes of page etc... The legends on Wing Playbacks have now been changed so that if the Cue Stack has a name then the name is always displayed on the first line of the Wing Playback and the second line shows the current step. If no name is set for the Cue Stack then operation is as before the first line shows the current step and the second line shows the next step. The three spare buttons in the windows section now default to Layout 1, Layout 2 and Layout 3. The View Palettes window has now been improved to show whether Palettes are linked to other Palettes (highlighted in Red). It is also now possible to step through the different Palettes using the Next Palette and Previous Palette buttons. There is now a button to unlink the specific Palettes or using SHIFT, to unlink all the Palettes of that type (Position, Colour or Beam). Unlinking removes links within the Palettes to other Palettes it does not affect the links within Cues.
Fixes
0000695 If a Grid with Groups contained heads with 16bit (fine) attributes then the Cue Engine would lock up. 0000549 It is now possible to record the first Cue in a Stack as a Cue Id other than 1.0
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ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Software Changes 0000615 Clicking on the input window when all other windows were closed would cause a reset on MagicQ consoles. 0000632 0000569 Setting date values in the Output Window, View Horiz did not work correctly. Setting 16bit values in the Media Window did not work correctly
The shortcuts for setting the attribute mask when recording or including by holding Pos, Col, Beam and pressing Record or Include did not work correctly in recent betas. Fixed problem with waveform FX which used 4 or more different attributes. Changing the FX parameters using the ALL fields or the encoders did not change all heads correctly. Fixed problem with morphing heads whereby Beam attributes did not get mapped from one head type to another correctly the mapping was always linear.
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Fixes
0000739 Fixed problem in recent betas including 1.4.6.4 which affected timed changes. The problem only occurs after you have done an UPDATE using the UPDATE method whereby you make some changes, press UPDATE and then it prompts you which Cue you wish to update. It does not affect the RECORD MERGE methods. Once you have used an Update then the problem will affect any timed changes you make until you clear the programmer. The effect of the problem is that after the UPDATE there is a random playback rate set for the programmer - so if you do a timed update it could complete very fast or it could go very slowly and then snap at the end of the time.
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Fixes
0000471 Fixed problem with Mac version whereby (1.4.6.0 to 1.4.6.3) whereby it would not detect MagicQ Wings and Interfaces unless they had their EEPROM modified to the FTDI default PID. This problem could be overcome by copying a lib file into the MagicQ folder on the Mac. 0000610 Fixed problem with Programmer output in recent betas (1.4.6.1 to 1.4.6.3). The Programmer might not output correctly after a New Show is started or a Show is Loaded. A soft reset will fix the problem. 0000584 SEL + RECORD doesn't merge into some point cues - resolved.
0000298 Remove Cue from Cue Stack using Cue Stack Window did not always work. Using keypad to enter the Cue Id, pressing REMOVE and then the S button of the Cue Stack always worked correctly.
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Fixes
0000531 Fixed problem with the setting serial port protocol if serial port was not selected. 0000545 Fixed problem with auto expansion of palettes whereby the fine values (16bit) did not get expanded correctly. 0000542 Fixed problem with the screen display when using MaxiWing with the MagicQ Architectural Controller.
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Pixel Mapping improvements Added support for rotate backwards in Pixel Mapper set Rot to a value greater than 128. Added Colour Type attribute to the Pixel Mapper. This allows the colour to be adjusted including inverts, mapping of colours, black and white and other colour effects. Added Mult option to the Mix Type this multiplies the layer with the previous (lower numbered) layers. The Pixel Mapping FX speeds are now affected by FX Size Masters and also by the Global and Playback Rate Masters.
Audio Improvements Added option in Setup, View Settings, Ports to set the minimum audio trigger level as well as the maximum audio trigger level. When set to non zero values any levels below the minimum or above the maximum are ignored and the levels are scaled appropriately. Added option in Setup, View Settings, Ports to set the audio input to ChamSys audio left only. Any signals received on the left channel are automatically duplicated onto the right channel. This is useful in situations where only a mono audio feed is available.
Fixes 0000307: Using % in the Cue Name can corrupt the show file particularly when directly followed by a character such as %s. If this occurs then please send the show file to ChamSys support who can fix it. 0000030 / 0000436: Record Merge to point cues didnt always work. 0000289 / 0000339: The into centre auto group on grids was not always correct when using grids with odd numbers of rows.
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ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Software Changes Fixed Fit to Grid in Pixel Mapping when using Grids with odd numbers of rows / columns the outermost column or row could get missed. Fixed problem when using Pixel Mapping with the audio FX and the move FX on movies and pictures if the movie/picture was smaller than the grid then it would not work. This did not affect the inbuilt bitmaps. 0000492: Fixed problem with MagicQ reseting when removing steps from a Cue Stack. Only affected Cue Stacks that were set with Release Resets to First Step = No. 0000465: Modifying the crossfade of a chase could result in some steps outputting the levels at 0% intensity for the next few steps. 0000433: It was sometimes difficult to read the head numbers in the Outputs, Plan View as the text colour sometimes was very similar to the background colour. Now the text colour is modified according to the background colour. 0000473: When adding more than one FX to Programmer MagicQ only showed the last FX added it was necessary to scroll up to see the offer FX. 0000396: Trying to remove steps from a Cue Stack by clicking on any column other than the first column in the Cue Stack Window would not work correctly. 0000339: Auto Groups on grids did not always create the Into Centre group correctly if the grid size has an odd number of rows or columns.
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Fixes Fixed problem with pressing action keys when no windows were open which could cause a reset. Fixed problem with Streaming DMX (ACN). Tracker 0000358. Fixed problem whereby recent console software versions were named incorrectly and appeared in the software upgrade utility in the wrong order. This meant that when an Erase Console was performed the console reverted to an older version of software. To fix a system with the problem got to Setup, View Status, Change Software and the software will be renamed correctly. Support for emergency save function in the very rare case that a MagicQ console could not write to the hard disk.
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Fixes Fixed problem with manual cross fade when using a Playback fader configured as a master fader. When the fader downwards if the fader was returned to the top before it fully reached the bottom then strange results could occur. Tracker 000068
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New Short-cuts There is a keypad shortcut for Record Cue Only - hold / and press REC. There are new shortcuts for selected head recording Hold * and press REC Record selected only Hold * and + and press REC Record merge selected head only Hold * and - and press REC Record remove selected head only Support for recording into the current cue using the keypad. REC 0 ENTER will record into the current Cue on the playback. Support for merging into the current Cue by pressing REC and then UPDATE (similar to holding S button and pressing REC, but does not require simultaneous multiple button press). Quick Macro Tool Bar It is now possible to open a new Quick Macro Tool Bar by pressing the screen in the Status Window (the area of the screen above Playbacks PB1 to PB5 with the Clock). The Macro Tool Bar can be closed by pressing in the Status Window again. The Macro Tool Bar shows the Key Macros 1 to 10. Key Macros are recorded in the Macro Window. The Macro Window has been enhanced to enable selection of Macros from Inbuilt Macros. Move the cursor to a free space in the Macro Window and press the Inbuilt Macro soft button. There are Inbuilt Macros for many of the key sequences that require simultaneous multiple button presses (e.g. SHIFT + RELEASE, S + REC)
Other Changes Added Locate option to Execute Window. Support for naming of User Dimmer Curves. In the CSV file the line after the last line of data (the 257th line) holds the curve name. The name has a maximum of 15 characters. Increased refresh rate of Output Windows on consoles. Increased refresh rate of Timeline Window.
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ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Software Changes Added Plan Intensity Type setting in Setup, View Settings, View Windows. This changes the way that intensity is represented in the Plan View options are the default glass fill or colour grading. Improved handling of fixtures with multiple parts where the main part is after the RGB parts such as Pixeline. Now the Patch Window shows the starting DMX address of the fixture rather than the starting address of the main part of the fixture. Added new Touch2 mode to the PC / Mac application that makes remote control using low resolution tablets easier. Added option for users to use their own MIDI conversion file usermiditable.txt rather than the in-built miditable.txt. This avoids user midi tables being overwritten when new software versions are loaded, since only the miditable.txt is updated on software updates.
Bug Fixes Fixed problem when using the Locate Cue or Default Cue with Palettes. Updating the Palettes did not update the Locate Cue or Default Cue correctly. When using MQ Wings then Setup DMX I/O could indicate incorrectly a port clash (a * in the Out Uni field). Fixed problem with displaying Select box with no items e.g. when clicking on a field that cannot be set. Fixed Setup Window so that it is not possible to change the options from column 1, thus avoiding erroneous data changes. Improved support for updating/record on remote interfaces. Fixed problem in 1.4.5.1 which could stop copying and moving of multiple Cues in the Cue Stack Window, Head Editor and in other spread sheet style windows). This problem could also cause other odd effects after trying to move or copy multiple items including failure of that Window to refresh correctly. Fixed redraw problems when changing between Normal and Touch mode in MagicQ PC / Mac. Fixed problem with reselecting heads using the ALL button. Bugtracker 00000335.
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Pixel Mapping Added new Ramp and Wipe FX to the Pixel Mapper. Ramp Horiz and Ramp Vert perform a ramp across the entire grid in the horizontal or vertical directions. FX P1 parameter controls the speed, FX P2 controls the crossfade and FX P3 controls the width. Wipe Horiz and Wipe Vert perform a wipe of a colour across the entire grid in the horizontal or vertical directions. The colour wiped across the grid is determined by the red, green, blue colour attributes of the Pixel Map layer. It is possible to wipe multiple colours across a grid simultaneously by choosing different colours in sequence. When these FX are in use the red, green, blue attributes do not affect the overall colour of the layer as they would normally. Improved the speed control of FX in the Pixel Mapper. The speed control is now more linear without a big jump at 128. Improved moving heads in the Plan View so that can groups of heads can be moved around without overwriting heads. Copying between from one grid to another grid is now supported. The grids should be the same size for this to work effectively. Improved the thresholds on the mix modes priority > 0 and mask. Previously the mask needed to be completely black, now it must be less than 2%. Added a mask invert mix type to complement the mask mix type. In mask invert mode any areas of the mask that are black are passed through from lower layers. Areas of the mask that are non-black, become black. Added a green key and a blue key mix type. When a layer is set to green key then any green pixels in that layer pass through the media from the lower layers. Non-green pixels play back the media on that layer. The mask must be pure green. When a layer is set to blue key then any blue pixels in that layer pass through the media from the lower layers. Non-blue pixels play back the media on that layer. The mask must be pure blue.
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Other changes Added new flicker FX, flickerxfade which does random crossfades as well as random sizes. Added function to allow preloading of Pages. The next Page can be preloaded in the Page Window. Pressing Next Page goes to the preloaded page. The preloaded page can also be loaded using the keypad syntax <Page> <number> *. So PAGE 34 * preloaded page 34. Added new option to Playback Window to view a Cue Stack. Added support for virtual dimmers on heads that have amber and white channels as well as red, green and blue. The personality of these fixtures must be modified to set the Colour Mix to RGBA or RGBAW (Head Editor, View Chans, Options). Bugtracker 0000047. Added support for setting head numbers and DMX addresses backwards in the Patch Window use SHIFT + the cursor keys to highlight from the last head to the first head. Bugtracker 00000293. Added new MagicDMX option to Out Type for Universe 1 in Setup, View DMX I/O. This is not needed in order for the MagicDMX to output DMX, but choosing this option automatically sets the option Setup, Ports, MagicDMX Mode to DMX Output which is required. Added functions for setting up a control network port and a wireless network port on MagicQ Pro 2010 consoles.
Bug Fixes Fixed problem with Windows focus when pressing the BACKSPACE <-- key or the CLEAR key. This caused the Colour Window to open full size at unexpected moments. Fixed Playback window so selecting a Playback with SEL button or soft button selects the playback as current regardless of current page. In previous versions it would open the Cue Stack window if the Playback Window page was different to the Main playback page. Fixed problem with inserting heads into a Grid whereby RGB fixtures could appear inverted. After a reset / reload show the heads appeared correctly. This could be worked around in affected versions by repatching any head to a different DMX address and then returning to the original address. This would cause the Grid to be refreshed correctly. The maximum Execute Grid size was 19 by 19. Changed to 20 by 20.
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Bug Fixes Fixed usage of Range View in the Colour and Beam Windows so that it is now always possible to revert to the Palettes View by holding the soft button. Fixed graphics problem when starting up PC versions with Wings attached when the display mode was changed (Normal,Maxi,Touch). Simple View in v1.4.4.8 sometimes did not refresh the output values above the faders correctly. Fixed graphic problem with audio display on Pro 2010 Consoles. Fixed problem with Move When Dark when Playback faders were at 0%. Move when dark would occur if the Playback level was at 0% and the intensity was not in use on any other faders. It would only affect channels with intensity in the current Cue that had levels recorded. It would not affect channels that were tracking down the Cue Stack from previous Cues. Bugtracker 0000208. Fixed problems in Execute Window. Problem with passwords when pressing ESC which caused MagicQ screen to be hidden. Also fixed display of Execute Window when set to 1 row only. Bugtracker 0000024, 0000029, 0000039, 0000064, Added support for when using attribute masks (SHIFT INCLUDE) when including palettes. Bugtracker 0000224. Fixed problem with Output Window, View Chans, View Names not showing all heads (v1.4.4.5 to 1.4.4.7). Bugtracker 0000221 Fixed problem on Pro and Pro 2010 consoles where using the remote trigger input would result in double triggers.
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v1.5.6.4
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Bug Fixes Fixed problem with use of crossfader as Global Rate Master which could cause resets. Bugtracker 0000090 and Bugtracker 0000046. Fixed problem with removing Cues from Cue Stack. If more than one column was highlighted then too many cues were removed. Bugtracker 0000136. Fixed problem with unpatching multi part heads where the main part of the head was after the repeated part (e.g. James Thomas Pixeline). Only the main part of the fixture would be marked as unpatched. Bugtracker 0000058. Fixed problem with changing the DMX address of multi part heads where the main part of the head was after the repeated part (e.g. James Thomas Pixeline). Only the main part of the fixture would be changed correctly. Fixed problem (v1.4.5 only) with legends on Playback Wings set to Heads or Channels. Fixed problem with the new Theatre repatch (v1.4.4.5 only) whereby it would not always correctly repatch to multiple addresses.
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Other Changes When creating Layout Views, the Views now remember the exact view options and grid numbers from the Outputs Windows. Previously Layout Views did not remember the grid id or the other view options. Support for patching the dimmer channels of VL5s using the View DMX view in Patch to specify the real dimmer address. Support for renumbering head numbers with offsets for example entering 101/20 will renumber heads at 101,121,141 etc.. Also renumbering head numbers relative to existing head numbers e.g. by entering 201/ in a head with head number 101 will add 100 to the head numbers.
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ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Software Changes Modified number of playbacks that can be synchronised between MagicQ consoles previous software only supported synchronisation of 1 Playback Wing. Now up to 8 Playback Wings can be synchronised. Note that for security reasons MagicQ PC is limited to synchronisation of the 10 main Playbacks only (no Playback Wings).
Bug Fixes Fixed problem with use of icons in Page Window. Fixed problem with the option Setup, Playback, Activate Playbacks on start when set to PB1 on MagicQ Pro systems it could cause a reset on start-up. Fixed problem when cloning (or copying head programming) between fixtures with multiple part personalities where the repeated part was after the main part, such as James Thomas Pixeline. The clone would not work correctly and could cause the show file to be corrupted and need restoration by ChamSys. This only affected personalities with multiple parts and then only when the main personality section was after the repeated section. Multiple part personalities with the main personality after the repeated section (e.g. James Thomas Pixeline) would not renumber the head numbers of the parts correctly when renumbering via the head number field in the Patch Window. The head numbers would start from the repeated part, whereas they should have started first with the main part and then with the repeated parts. Fixed problem with FX in tracking Cue Stacks which could cause problems when jumping around within the Cue Stack. Fixed problem in 1.4.4.4 which affected activating a Cue Stack by jumping directly to a Cue other than the first Cue. If there were no playbacks active then the jump would not work and the Cue Stack would be executed from the first Cue Id. The Limit function in the Patch did not work for values greater than 127. Fixed problem in recent betas whereby the Cue Window, View Tracking was not correct.
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Hot Takeover Added some new Hot Takeover Modes to MagicQ to make it easy to configure multiple MagicQ consoles as hot takeover and master/slave. The Hot Takeover Mode is set in Setup, View Settings, Multi Console. The options are: Split Equal Pref Master Pref Slave Same behaviour as in previous versions (default) Both consoles have same priority Console will always be Master Console will only be Master if another console is not detected
The mode defaults to Split which will give the same behaviour as in previous versions. For all modes it is still necessary to set up Setup, View DMX I/O so that all universes that you wish to use as Hot Takeover have their Output and Input universes and type set correctly. Split Mode This mode makes the consoles operate as in previous version of software. Set Hot Takeover in Setup, View DMX I/O for the required Universes. To make a single system a backup for another system set the universes to Hot Takeover only on the slave console. For a Master/Slave system with equal precedence, set the universes to Hot Takeover on both systems. Equal Mode Setting both consoles to Equal operates a Master/Slave mode whereby both Consoles have the same precedence. The first console to start becomes the Master. Take Control and Release Control can be used to swap which console is the Master. All Universes are treated the same enabling / disabling together. For systems which require hot takeover to operate independently on different Universes the Split mode should be used. If the network cable between the consoles is broken then neither console will see the other console and both will become Master. If one of the consoles is still connected to the lighting rig then it will have control both consoles will not be connected to the lighting rig otherwise the consoles would see each other. When the network between the consoles is reconnected then both consoles will detect the other consoles at the same instance. The console with the lower IP address will become the Master.
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ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Software Changes Using the Equal mode overcome limitations of the previous system (Split) whereby if a network cable problems (cable unplugged or broken) could cause some of the different Hot Takeover universes to be enabled on one system and others on the other system. All required universes on both consoles should be set to Hot Takeover. Preferred Mode Setting one console to Preferred Master and the other to Preferred Slave operates a Master/Slave mode whereby one console will always be the Master, with the other console only taking control when that Preferred Master console is not available (shutdown, reset, disconnected from the network). As soon as the Preferred Master restarts or is connected back on the network then it will take control and the Preferred Slave will stop outputting. All required universes on both consoles should be set to Hot Takeover (note that this is different to the previous version of software and the Split mode whereby only the universes on the preferred Slave were set to Hot Takeover.
Other Changes Improved intensity masters so that it is now possible to have multiple intensity masters which refer to the same channels. The intensity masters multiply together to get the final level. Added SEL button to Playbacks Window for selecting the virtual playback where the cursor is placed. The Setup, View Status window now shows the MagicQ console kernel version and the console MAC address. Bug Fixes Fixed problem patching more than one internal Pixel Mappers. If the channels used by the grids for the Pixel Mappers were less than channels in existing Pixel Mappers in the show then the other Pixel Mappers would stop working until the show was restarted. Fixed problem when patching Pixel Maps that caused the Output Window soft buttons to be changed to the Patch Window soft. The Output Window buttons could be retrieved by opening and closing the Output Window or pressing SHIFT + OUT. Fixed problem when copying FX between heads. After performing the copy then opening the FX Window would cause a soft reset. Fixed problem whereby changing page on the top section of a Playback Wing by using the keypad (enter bank number and press PREV) did not work correctly. Fixed problem with release times on faders which could cause other previously playing playbacks to get lost so that LTP back to the original channels was not possible.
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ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Software Changes Fixed problem with MagicQ Playback Wings where on start-up they would not read the current state of the faders correctly. Fixed problems with Layout Views (particularly the Outputs Window) whereby when changing between several different layouts with different cursor positions within the the same window, MagicQ would not remember the positions correctly. Fixed problem with Cue Store Window with Cues generated as base for FX from the FX Window. These Cues did not indicate that they were used by FX and could be deleted. Fixed problem in the FX Window whereby deleting a FX would not delete the associated base Cue in the Cue Store and would display an erroneous error message.
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Group Masters It is now possible to make intensity masters, size masters and speed masters that depend upon groups rather than the recorded channels within the Cue of the master. Note that when a group number other than 0 is set in the Cue Stack Options, Function menu then MagicQ automatically edits and generates the Cue assigned to the first step in that Cue Stack. Ensure you set the group id on the correct Cue Stack. It is possible to make a group intensity master quickly by simply selecting the group and recording an empty cue to a new Cue Stack. The programmer must not have any active values or FX, otherwise a normal Cue will be recorded. Cue Stack Options Added new options for use when using Cue Stacks with the Fader Releases set to NO and Flash releases set to NO. In these situations it is now possible to specify that faders reassert the Playback when the level leaves zero. In Setup, View Settings, Playbacks, set the Fader off zero reasserts channels option. Note that if you have Fader Activate set to YES and Fader Release set to YES then the Playback is automatically reasserted when the fader leaves zero. A new option Flash acts as FLASH + GO has been added to the Cue Stack, Options, Buttons. This enables the FLASH button to act as both a FLASH and a GO button at the same time. Note that it is possible to get the same effect by using the Fader Releases set to YES, and setting Activate/Release, Release steps 1 step = YES, and Release resets to first step = NO. Eliminated unused options Go Jumps Step and Go restarts step these were never implemented and it was not clear what they were meant to do. Cue Stack macros Improved support for scheduled events and macros. It is now possible to have a scheduled event date mask and normal macro commands within the same cue stack macro. The date mask must be first. The normal macros are placed after the finishing Z of the date mask. So ZABZa9 will activate PB9 only on Monday and Tuesday. Added cue stack macros to allow H1 Lamp on all heads 72 of 86 www.chamsys.co.uk
v1.5.6.4
ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Software Changes H2 H3 Reset all heads Lamp off all heads
Simple Mode MagicQ PC (Windows/Linux/Mac) GUI now supports Simple Mode as well as Normal, Touch and MaxiWing. Simple Mode gives access to 48 DMX channels on Universe 1 only. Simple Mode can be used to make MagicQ work as a simple 48 channel control desk. Cues and Chases can be generated by recording directly onto the Playbacks. Simple Mode is divided into the Programmer section consisting of 48 faders and a CLEAR button, the Playback section with the 10 main playbacks and an Outputs View for the 48 channels. Simple Mode has a Test button which generates a MagicQ show based on a single head, chosen from all of the heads in the MagicQ fixture library. The single head is patched at channel 1 on Universe 1. The MagicQ show created has playbacks for Macros, Locate, Col Wheel, CMY mix, Gobo wheels, and Iris / Focus / Zoom FX. Simple Mode is just a different way of viewing the MagicQ show data - the MagicQ show file is exactly the same you can swap between Simple Mode and Normal Mode at any time. However , if you patch heads outside of channels 1 to 48 on Universe 1 then they will not be visible in Simple Mode.
Other changes
Modified the behaviour when you delete an active Cue so that it goes to the previous Cue in the Cue Stack rather than returning to the first Cue. Improved display in Help Window. Reduced time for loading the Help file.
Bug Fixes Fixed problem when loading show files with several Waveform FX with the same names. MagicQ would display the FX Waves with same name error message. Now MagicQ will modify the names to make them different. Fixed problem when using keypad to change PAGE. Pressing PAGE and a number followed by enter would not work correctly when the activate on page change and release on page settings were used. Changing page by selecting a new Page in the Page Window was not affected. Fixed problem when using release on page change together with cue stack macros. In the situation where a cue stack is active with "release on page change" = "yes" and a page change v1.5.6.4 73 of 86 www.chamsys.co.uk
ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Software Changes is made. Then if the cue stack on the new page has "activate on page change" = "no" then if you use the A or G macro to start the cue stack it would erroneously start at 0%. Moving the fader slightly would correct the problem. It only affected Cue Stacks started by the macros A or G and then only if the cue stack was released on a page change. Fixed problem in Outputs, View Chans view where occasionally some channels were not shown correctly. This most often affected dimmer channels that were numbered after moving lamps which did not have intensity as their first channel. Fixed >> and << (forward and aback without times) so that FX fade in and fade out times snap. Fixed problem with virtual dimmers whereby selecting and setting levels might not work after selecting other groups of heads. This could be worked around by always selecting the group of virtual dimmer heads before entering an individual head number / level selection. Fixed problem with loading in saved FX libraries in FX Window. If the channels the FX were originally built on were not patched in the new show then the FX would not load correctly. If those channels were patched (regardless of what they were patched as) then the FX would load correctly. Fixed problem with using Intensity FX (and FX on RGB channels set as HTP channels) which would cause the FX to flicker when moving the playback fader. This problem only affected 1.4.4.0 and 1.4.4.1. Fixed problem with using the option Setup, View Settings, Keypad Encoders - Map Keys To THRU, @, Full which could cause the DMX I/O settings to be corrupted. Fixed problem when using Big Text Mode (All Caps, or First Letter Caps) which on MagicQ consoles, MagicQ Mac and MagicQ Linux would hide folders in File Manager. Fixed problem when using tracking on a Cue Stack with the Cue Step Block FX option set to NO and the Ignore FX from other playbacks options set to NO. Occasionally FX could continue even though the Cue Step Remove Old FX option was set to YES. This was particularly noticeable if Cue Only steps were in use. Fixed inserting heads into grid so that it now takes account of sub selection of heads such as odd/even. Fixed problem on MagicQ consoles that meant when changing page sometimes Wing text got lost and LEDs did not show the correct state. This mostly affected ProX OS but was also seen on the non-ProX OS.
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Enhancements to remote protocol Added new options to the remote control protocol to allow saving and loading of show files. It is possible to save and load show files with the specific names show0000.shw to show9999.shw. Show files are stored in the normal show folder. To save a show <90> , <showfile id> H To load a show <91> , <showfile id> H Where showfile id is a four digit decimal number between 0000 and 9999.
Bug Fixes Pixel-mapping on Grid 10 would not work in the Outputs, Plan View. Faders on remote control would not work on recent beta versions.
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ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Software Changes The Edit Waveform FX Window would not change to show the last chosen FX correctly. Also when choosing a new FX it would not detect correctly when edits had been made to be previously chosen FX. Fixed problem with tracking Cue Stacks with over 400 Cues whereby when making updates using S + RECORD would not take immediate effect the Cue Stack would need to be restarted.
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Options Modified Always copied unlinked option to add the extra option of copying unlinked without state so that when Cues are copied within a Cue Stack only the delta values are copied not the state of the Cue at that step. The option is renamed to Copy mode (linked/unlinked). The tracking option Maintain State on Jumps has been renamed Recalculate State on Jumps. When set to yes then when a jump occurs (either forwards, backwards, or back around to the first step) MagicQ recalculates the state as if it had got to that step by stepping from Cue 1 to that step.
Bug Fixes Pro 2010 console on Pro 2010 running software prior to 1.4.4.0 the Linux kernel USB power management was not working correctly. This meant that some USB powered devices including some USB memory drives and the MagicQ MIDI/SMPTE interfaces would not work on the upper USB ports on the rear panel of a Pro 2010. The lower USB port on the rear panel would work correctly. Installing v1.4.4.0 of Pro 2010 software automatically updates the Linux kernel to a version with improved USB power management. Improved response when retrieving thumbnails from media servers, in particular Catalyst. Improved crossfading from one FX to another FX. Fixed problem when recording Cue Stacks with multiple steps that the first time the Cue Stack was activated it did not play back correctly.
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Other Changes Improved MK II colour scheme for programmed / un-programmed items. Support for Interim Architectural Controller 2. Added O macro command for setting External Timecode value when no external timecode is being received. Hot takeover settings and some sync show settings were treated as show settings rather than console settings, so were overwritten when loading shows and starting new shows. These are now console settings.
Bug Fixes Fixed problem when trying to record merge into point cues (e.g. cue id 1.10) sometimes it would fail with the message invalid cue id. Fixed problem when replacing a Cue in a Cue Stack using record and specifying the Cue id to replace previously the Cue Stack would be restarted. Fixed problem when in tracking modes. When going backwards in a Cue Stack or jumping around occasionally FX would not track correctly. This only affected Cues with fade times. Stepping forward through the Cue Stack operated correctly at all times. Fixed problem with MIDI note input when using parse strings to map velocities to remote commands MagicQ would interpret values less than 100 incorrectly. v1.5.6.4 78 of 86 www.chamsys.co.uk
Fixed problem with hot takeover between consoles with fixtures with pan or tilt inverts the captured value would be incorrect. Fixed problem with remote control. Under some circumstances the connection to the target system would not work. This occurred if Multiwindows was disabled on the target system. Connection would occur ok on Pro systems if the external monitor 2 on the target system was configured to a resolution other than none. Fixed copying of Cues within a Cue Stack when using tracking modes. Copying Cues with complex times would not copy the complex times. A workaround was to use Include and Record. Pressing Enter in the Wait field when using timecode caused the timecode to be set to 0. Using the Encoder E to change the timecode times on multiple cues in the Cue Stack window would also change Cues with wait times. When a Cue stack triggering other Cue Stacks with macros, the Cue Stack would not play back exactly the same when run from timecode as when run from the GO button. Timecode would not reassert the playback. Fixed reset when changing FX speed in the programmer.
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Bug Fixes Fixed problem when altering FX based on sines, cosines and circles. When changing the FX (especially the speed) the FX could jump unexpectedly. Fixed problem introduced in v1.4.3.0 to 1.4.3.4 that could cause the mouse to stop working on MagicQ consoles. This only occurred after a change of the host name, or a change of IP address. A work around is to change to any version of MagicQ software outside of these versions and set the hostname again.
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Windows Added 2nd Media Window and 3rd and 4th Outputs Windows. Press CTRL + MEDIA to get the 2nd Media Window (MEDIA INFO). Press 3 OUT to open the 3rd Output Window, 4 OUT to open the 4th Output Window. Added View Options to the Cue Stack Window (soft button A). The different view modes show the columns in different orders. View modes include Default, Info, Macro and Tracking. Added extra views to the Media Window to enable selection of groups instead of media servers. The Media Window resizes to show the number of layers that will fit on the window size.
MIDI Show Control Support for MIDI show control. MagicQ responds to the GO, STOP, RESUME and TIMED GO commands. If a Cue is specified as well as a Cue List in the MIDI show control command then the operation will affect a Cue Stack in the Cue Store. If no Cue List is specified then operation will affect a Cue in the Cue Store. For example: F0 7F 7F 02 01 01 31 F7 F0 7F 7F 02 01 01 32 30 F7 F0 7F 7F 02 01 02 31 F7 F0 7F 7F 02 01 01 00 31 30 F7 // Go Cue 1 in the Cue Store // Go Cue 20 in the Cue Store // Stop Cue 1 in the Cue Store // Go Cue Stack 10 in the Stack Store
MagicQ ignores the times in the TIMED GO command and uses the programmed times. GO and RESUME have the same effect. The MIDI/SMPTE firmware must be modified by ChamSys to support MIDI show control messages. Please contact your dealer/distributor for more info.
Other Changes
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ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Software Changes Added Key Lock function to the Execute Window. A Key Lock Special Function button can be placed in the Execute Window. When pressed the Execute Window is locked and can only be unlocked by entering the password. If no password has been set, then entering a blank password will unlock the window. Added extra automatic start-up options in Setup, View Settings, Playbacks, Activate Playbacks on Start. The options include: None PB1 Last Active Wing 1 PB 1 Cue Stack 1 Macro 1 Lamp On All
Bug Fixes Fixed problem when using Bitmap FX on dimmers. If the Bitmap FX and the individual dimmer channel were recorded in a Cue then releasing the Cue Stack with the Release button could cause a level to remain on the dimmer channel. This only occurred if the Release time was zero seconds. The work around was to set a non zero release time.
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Bug Fixes
Fixed problem with using the Remote option in the Cue Stack under some circumstances MagicQ could reset when opening the Cue Stack Info window or pressing the S button of the Cue Stack. Fixed problem with using the Remote option in the Cue Stack when using multiple Playbacks the remote would only move the Cue Stack on when the Playback was the last touched. This could be worked around by setting the Cue Stack options Priority = above programmer. Fixed problem when using the Expand palettes to same head type option. Resets could be caused when recording palettes.
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v1.5.6.4
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MagicQ ProX operating system Support for MagicQ ProX updated Linux operating system. The ProX Linux operating system brings improved operating system, monitor, keyboard and mouse handling to the MagicQ Pro consoles. MagicQ software features and show files remain compatible between all MagicQ consoles and operating systems. MagicQ ProX operating system supports a continuous desktop between the internal monitor and up to two external monitors. The external monitors can be up to 1440x900 resolution each. Both external monitors can be touch screens. Elo, Egalix and ProTouch USB touch screens are supported. One of the touch screens can be serial RS232. External monitors should be plugged in and powered before starting the console. MagicQ ProX supports a range of USB mice and USB keyboards. Mice and keyboard can be used at the same time as the touch screen and on screen keyboard. USB mice and keyboards should be plugged in before starting the console. MagicQ console software is now available in 2 different variants the existing Pro variant (.cde files) and the ProX variant (.cdx files). The MagicQ software features are the same the software is just packaged for the relevant operating system. Both software variants are available from the ChamSys web site (www.chamsys.co.uk). MagicQ ProX software variant will only run on MagicQ consoles running the ProX Linux operating system. The ProX operating system is installed on new MagicQ Pro consoles from September 2009. Upgrade packages will be available from October 2009 for existing MagicQ consoles please contact your distributor/dealer for more details.
Other changes Improved Plan view when being used as a map for selecting heads. Now shows both head number and name and indication of head selection is more pronounced. Multiple head selection now works the same was as in the Group window. Added short cut bar for selecting group order hold ALL. On MagicQ PC press SHIFT + ALL. Added new text mode setting First Letter whereby MagicQ always capitalises the first letters of your text regardless of what you type. This saves programming time. Head Editor added option to save to new mode.
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ChamSys Ltd MagicQ Software Changes Monitor and USB touch settings now moved to Setup, View System, View Monitors. There is now a status display for connected USB touch screens in Setup, View System, View Status, View Touch.
Bug Fixes
Fixed problem when changing DMX address in Patch Window with Move Aside sometimes the DMX address would not change the first time even though MagicQ indicated patch changed. Improved morphing when morphing between heads with the same range data e.g. different modes of the same head. This improves mapping of rotation speeds, gobo indexing, focus, zoom. Fixed problem with faders set to control FX speed. When raising the fader slowly from 0% the spread (offset) of the FX would be incorrect. This could be worked around by setting the LTP activation level (Setup, View Settings, Hardware, Level above 0 to active LTP) to 30. Fixed bug in random order selection whereby repeated randomises removed heads from the currently selected heads.
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