Avolites DIAMOND II User manual

AVOLITES DIAMOND II
OPERATION MANUAL
SOFTWARE VERSION 3.x
revision 3.01
Useful phone numbers:-
Avolites England
sales and service (+44) (0) 181 965 8522
service out of hours (+44) (0) 831 17 88 88
fax (+44) (0) 181 965 0290
modem/bulletin board(+44) (0) 181 961 4838
Avolites America
sales and service ([phone]
fax [phone]
The latestversion of this manual (in Microsoft Word 97 or PDF)and
Diamond II Software can be downloaded by modem on the above modem number
You can also download the latest personality disks.
No Liability for Consequential Damages
Avolites has a policy of continuous product and documentation improvement. As such the detail within this
manual may not match the operation of the Diamond II or other products.
In no event shall Avolites be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages or
loss whatsoever (including, without limitation, damages for loss of profits, business interruption, or other
pecuniary loss) arising out of the use or inability to use an Avolites product even if Avolites Ltd. has been
advised of the possibility of such damages. Because some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or
limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, the above limitation may not apply to you.
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DIAMOND II OPERATORS MANUAL
CONTENTS
1. OVERVIEW 7
2. BEFORE TURNING ON 7
3. CONVENTIONS USED IN THIS MANUAL 7
4. THE KEYSWITCH 8
5. PATCHING 8
6. EASY START DIMMER 1:1 PATCH 8
7. WIPE ALL AND SELECTING THE NUMBER OF HTP CHANNELS
REQUIRED 9
8. PATCHING FROM SCRATCH 9
9. PATCHING DIMMERS 10
10. TO PATCH INSTRUMENTS (ANYTHING WHICH IS NOT A GENERIC
DIMMER) 11
11. PATCHING INSTRUMENTS WHICH USE A SEPARATE DIMMER. 12
12. TO PATCH AN INTENSITY LTP CHANNEL 12
13. TO CREATE A REDUCTION FADER 12
14. TO DELETE A DIMMER WHICH HAS BEEN PATCHED WITH AN
INSTRUMENT 12
15. TO INVERT A CHANNEL 13
16. CHANGING PAGE 13
17. SETTING THE PAGE SIZE (BLOCK SIZE) 13
18. INSERT AND DELETE WITH LOCKED MASTERS 14
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19. THE PROGRAMMER 14
20. TO PROGRAM OR EDIT A MEMORY 15
21. EXPLANATION OF CLEAR 15
22. WHICH CHANNELS ARE RECORDED 15
23. TO SET THE FADE TIME FOR A MEMORY 15
24. SETTING THE MEMORY REPLAY MODE 16
25. TO VIEW, SELECT OR CHANGE THE MEMORY MODE 18
26. TO PROGRAM A CHASE 18
27. TO SET A CHASE SPEED, USING THE KEYPAD 18
28. TO SET A CHASE SPEED USING A WHEEL 19
29. TO SET AN INDIVIDUAL STEP TIME, MAKING IT A COMPLEX STEP19
30. TO CHANGE A STEP BACK TO USING SIMPLE TIMES ONCE IT HAS
BEEN MADE A COMPLEX STEP. 20
31. TO EDIT A CHASE STEP 20
32. TO EDIT THE TIMES OF THE LIVE STEP ON A CONNECTED CHASE
OR SEQUENCE. 20
33. TO GO TO ANY CHASE STEP 20
34. SETTING THE CHASE PARAMETERS 21
35. INCLUDE 22
36. DELETING 22
37. INSERT 23
38. LINKING AND DUPLICATING MEMORIES AND CHASES 24
39. TO CONNECT TO THE SEQUENCE CONTROL 25
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40. TO RECORD A GROUP 25
41. TO USE A GROUP 25
42. TO STORE A FOCUS 25
43. TO APPLY A FOCUS 26
44. FOCUS TIPS 26
45. EXPLANATION OF THE MIMIC LED’S 27
46. TO SET INSTRUMENTS ON MIMICS 28
47. UNFOLD 28
48. TO ALTER LEGENDS 28
49. MOVING LIGHT FUNCTIONS 28
50. USING ANIMATE 30
51. CHANGING CHANNELS ON AN INSTRUMENT FROM FADE TO
INSTANT 31
52. HOW TO TURN 'ON' AND TURN 'OFF' CHANNELS 31
53. TO CREATE A TABLE 32
54. TO USE A TABLE 33
55. TO SAVE A TABLE TO DISK 34
56. THEATRE STYLE CHANNEL EDITING 34
57. BLIND PROGRAMMING 35
58. BLIND PROGRAMMING AND QUICK BLIND EDIT 36
59. DISK 37
60. VIEWING DIFFERENT SCREENS 37
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61. TO CHANGE ACTIVE SCREEN 38
62. THE STAGE REMOTE 39
63. USER SETTINGS AND PREFERENCES 41
64. USING THE GRAPHIC TABLET 42
65. KILLING DMX CHANNELS IN AN EMERGENCY AND THEN REVIVING
THEM AGAIN 46
66. SERVICE OPTIONS 46
67. UPGRADES 47
68. CHANGING FROM EL SCREEN TO VGA CRT 47
69. POWER UP MESSAGES 48
70. TO LOAD SOFTWARE FROM DISK INTO FLASH MEMORY 48
71. ADDITIONAL EL OR CRT SCREENS AND DRIVER BOARDS 49
72. PATCHING LTP CHANNELS FOR DIMMERS 51
73. 51
73. HELP 52
74. AUTO FUNCTIONS IN A CHASE 53
75. KNOWN PROBLEMS IN VERSION 3 SOFTWARE 54
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AVOLITES DIAMOND II OPERATORS MANUAL
File d2man.doc Revision 14 05/12/2001
page 7
1. OVERVIEW
The Avolites DIAMOND II uses the latest technology to create a lighting and moving
light control desk with features unequalled elsewhere. Combining the qualities of a
traditional 'preset' lighting control desk, with all the advantages of programming
directly from the preset faders, together with powerful theatre editing, using a keypad
to select channels and set levels.
Eight rotary wheels allow easy control of moving light parameters, either directly, or
using look up tables, which, for instance allow selection of colour by name. The desk
resolves what is required to actually make an instrument select that colour.
When patching instruments you need only select the DMX line and number, then
press a button to place the instrument. Again the desk resolves how channels are
actually allocated with its personality system.
The ANIMATE moving light function allows creation of complicated effects at the
touch of a few buttons, where previously hours of programming would be required.
These effects can then be edited to make them uniquely yours.
The moving light TRACKING function allows easy positioning of instruments, with
automatic orientation of instruments - no need to reverse PAN or TILT - and allows
the wheels to operate in true up-down and left-right of stage.
The optional GRAPHIC TABLET enhances these features allowing ‘follow spot’ type
operation of a number of moving lights, colour mix and selection of groups, focuses,
gobos etc.
2. BEFORE TURNING ON
Before you turn the desk on make sure the power-supply is selected to the correct
mains voltage. Failure to do this may cause permanent damage! The voltage
selector is near the mains inlet plug. Prior to turning the desk on you should also
connect the video screen. This may be either a solid state 'EL' screen, or a VGA
CRT screen. The EL screen will be found in the middle desk drawer together with its
support rod and cable.
3. CONVENTIONS USED IN THIS MANUAL
•A dot like this indicates that you what follows is an instruction on what to do.
Indented text like this describes the result of what you are doing or gives
additional information on the previous instructions.
♦A diamond like this is used to show that there are a number of options and you
have to select one of them or give an explanation to a number of items.
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AVOLITES DIAMOND II OPERATORS MANUAL
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[A] Square brackets like these indicate the name of a button, in this case button A
on the program panel.
4. THE KEYSWITCH
The KEYSWITCH which is mounted to the right of the program panel or above the
master faders depending on the serial number of your desk.
RUN MODE
When the Key is in RUN mode no programming is allowed, this may be considered
the SAFE mode.
PROGRAM MODE
When the Key is turned to PROGRAM, memories, chases and sequences may be
recorded, the patch may be changed and disk operations are allowed.
SYSTEM MODE
The third position of the Key is SYSTEM, when the key is in this position you may
enter the diagnostic and service options.
5. PATCHING
Before any dimmers or instruments can be controlled you must first patch the DMX
output. Until a channel is patched it is not shown on the screen, LED mimic or
output.
DETAIL ON HOW THE PATCH WORKS
♦The Diamond II patch works in two ways, firstly the HANDLE (a preset
fader and the swop/add button associated with it) is patched internally,
then the DMX channel is patched.
♦This is all done automatically but an understanding of this will help should
you have to alter the patch later on.
♦The internal patch number is used by the desk as a reference, by doing
this it is possible to change handles or change DMX numbers without
having to change the contents of memories recorded which would be
difficult because memories can reference items such as focuses and
tables.
6. EASY START DIMMER 1:1 PATCH
A quick dimmer 1:1 patch can be created with the following key sequence.
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AVOLITES DIAMOND II OPERATORS MANUAL
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•Turn the key to SYSTEM.
•Press [A] then [F] then button [C].
After this all memories chases etc. will be erased and the desk will be ready for
programming.
The first 180 dimmers will be patched onto faders 1 to 180 in that DMX order, using
DMX line 1.
7. WIPE ALL AND SELECTING THE NUMBER OF HTP
CHANNELS REQUIRED
A WIPEALL restores the desks memory to the factory settings, removing any
programming you may have done. Do a backup onto disk if you wish to keep
previous programming.
When doing a WIPE ALL you will be prompted to enter how many HTP channels you
will require.
You require 1 HTP channel for each dimmer, remembering that each moving light
requires one dimmer channel. It is always best to allow a few more HTP channels
than you actually require since this number cannot easily be changed. The maximum
number of HTP channels is 450 and the minimum is 1.
You can view the number of HTP channels, LTP channels, and how many are in use
by selecting CHANNEL STATISTICS from the VIEW menu.
You set the number of HTP channels after doing a WIPE ALL. To do a wipe all do
the following.
•Turn the key to SYSTEM
•Press button [A], SERVICE
•Press button [F], WIPE ALL
•Press button [A], EXECUTE WIPEALL
Once you press this you are past the point of no return! A wipe all has been
done, however you must now configure the desk regarding the number of
HTP (dimmer) channels you require. This may be in the range of 1 to 450. All
the remaining channels are allocated as LTP channels. (If you require more
than 450 dimmer channels see the section on LTP FADE channels.)
•Enter the number of dimmer channels you require, or if you require 180 press
[ENTER]
•Turn the key back to RUN or PROGRAM as required.
8. PATCHING FROM SCRATCH
Before patching you may wish to do a DISK Backup and WIPE ALL.
The WIPE ALL will erase everything so make a disk if you wish to keep previously
programmed information.
To make a DISK backup.
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•Place a blank formatted disk in the disk drive.
•Press the [DISK] button.
•Now press button [A], SAVE TO DISK.
•Now press button [F], CONFIRM.
See section 59 for more information on the disk system.
Now do a WIPE ALL by turning the KEY to SYSTEM.
•Press button [A] marked SERVICE.
•Then press button [F] marked WIPE ALL.
•Finally press button [A] marked CONFIRM WIPEALL.
You are now prompted on the main screen to enter the number of HTP
channels required. This can be any number between 1 and 450. By default
the desk will assign 180 HTP channels.
•Enter the number of HTP channels or press ENTER to use the default of 180.
•Turn the key back to PROGRAM.
To start patching instruments or dimmers
•Press [PATCH]
•Then press the [Bank 1] button.
•The menu on the built in screen now prompts
Select a DMX line 1..8
•Select a DMX line by pressing 1..8 on keypad.
For 1024 channel desks only two DMX lines are available, so only 1 and 2
are valid button presses.
The menu now prompts
[A] Dimmer
[B] Choose an Instrument
[C] Intensity LTP
[D] Reduction
[E] Delete Pending Dimmer
[F] Invert a channel
You are now ready to patch dimmers or instruments and the following sections
describe how to do this.
9. PATCHING DIMMERS
Use this function for patching a generic dimmer. - Meaning a simple dimmer channel.
When using Colour Changers and instruments requiring a separate dimmer use the
CHOOSE AN INSTRUMENT patch option. This allows the use of focuses, tables and
other moving light features.
PATCHING A DIMMER
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