Specifications

131 LightJockey Help file - (C) Martin Professional 2010
LightJockey Help
The generic DMX macro
Generic DMX macros
Using generic DMX macros effectively requires a good understanding of how the DMX
protocol works, both in general as well as for individual fixtures. Without this knowledge it is
quite easy to program undesired side effects such as fixture reset or even lamp off by
mistake.
The generic macros are not intended as a replacement or substitute for Movement macros. The
movement macro connects pan and tilt DMX values together in a way that makes it easy to create
dynamic figures such as circles, ellipses or figures of eights. However the Generic DMX macro does
have more flexibility in terms of macro types and delay functionality than the movement macro - for
example to run two different macros (or delays) on pan and tilt respectively use the generic DMX
macro rather than the movement macro.
Although the generic DMX macros have some similarities with the movement macros they are quite a
different in most respects. First of all the generic macros can affect any DMX control channel, not just
pan/tilt channels. Secondly they are not part of scenes like the movement macros, but instead they
are an individual type of programming element much like background cues or statics. Generic DMX
macros are launched as part of a cue. Each macro holds information for all DMX control channels
across all configured fixtures - the same macro entry can contain different macro shapes and
parameters for any individual DMX control channel - pan/tilt macros use the same macro type for both
pan and tilt.
Macro shapes
The generic macros are implemented using different pre-defined 'shapes' - e.g. a sine wave, to
'modulate' a reference value to generate a final DMX output for individual DMX control channels. On the
graphical macro representation below, the Y-axis represents the macro DMX values and the X-axis
represents how the macro value is changing in time. The horizontal cyan line represents a 'reference'
value of 0. Macros can contain both positive (above the reference) and negative (below the reference
line) values as (A) or positive values only as (B)- when executing, the macro will simply add the
positive values to the reference DMX value, and subtract the negative values from the reference DMX
value. The different macro shapes can be used to program different types of effects - some are suited
to slow smooth transitions while other are suited to faster snappier chase-type of effect.
Macro shapes - graphical representation (the generic macro editor)
The reference value used is either the combined output of all other programming elements (the current
sequence, cue, statics, etc.) - or a base value contained in the macro it self - using the first method,
the final output generated by the macro depends entirely on the contribution from the other elements,
while the latter method ensures a predictable output value. The values generated by the macro ranges
from -255(at max negative) to 255 (at max positive) - these values are normally scaled by an
amplitude factor to remain within a 'sensible' range - in any case the final DMX output values are
automatically limited to 0 to 255.
Macro Parameters
Each macro can be manipulated by 4 parameters.
Positive amplitude - scaling of the positive (the part above the 0-line) part of the macro.