Specifications

11 LightJockey Help file - (C) Martin Professional 2010
LightJockey Help
Additional cue operations
When editing cues, remember that the current sequence has highest priority. Normal cue execution
resumes when the current sequence is cleared. Note too that to synchronize the sequences in the
current cue, you must clear the cue and reload it onto the desktop.
To create a new cue and/or clear the current one, click New/Clear Cue.
To load a cue, click List of Cues and drag it from the List of Cues to the desktop. Click View Cue
Control to open the Edit Cue window. Here, sequences can be added, removed, rearranged,
loaded, etc.
To adjust cue timing, open the Cue Edit window and click Cue Times at the bottom. The cue
master fader adjusts times (as a percent) for all sequences set to "CUE" time. Setting a
sequence fader to another value overrides the master cue fader.
Basic programming terms and elements
Fixtures
This term is used throughout the LightJockey to describe the 'equipment' that the LightJockey can
control. The term may not only be confined to lighting fixtures, but everything that might be controlled
from LightJockey via DMX protocol, such as smoke machines or motor control.
Fixture profiles and protocols
Controlling fixtures via DMX is actually not a very 'intelligent' method of control. There are (for various
reasons, some of them good reasons) no industry standards for commands like "go to red" or "move
to home position". This means that each type of fixture has it's own set of command values - the
fixture DMX protocol. On generics DMX consoles, usually equipped with faders to set values, it is
necessary for the programmer to know the correct command values to send and also which channel
or address to send these value to. Most modern control systems implement more or less
sophisticated fixture 'personalities' to hide the protocols from the end-user. LightJockey implements
graphical 'personalities' or profiles for most DMX capable fixtures, this means that the user does not
need to know anything about DMX values or addresses to program fixtures. While not essential, a
good understanding of how the DMX protocol works is definitely an advantage when trying to get the
most out of LightJockey programming.
See also DMX addresses and links, Generic DMX fixtures, User definable fixture profiles
Scene
A scene is the most basic programming element in LightJockey. In other types of consoles and
controllers this is also known as a memory. Unlike most other consoles, LightJockey does not refer
to individual memories, scenes only exists as part of sequences (see later).
Each scene in LightJockey contains information for all fixtures and all their effects.
Usually, only a small number of the fixtures/effects will be programmed in a scene as LightJockey
offers methods to combine and layer several 'scenes' to create a final output (e.g. in a cue). So most
of the time an effect will probably be "unused" or "off" in a given scene (see off/snap/fade).
A good analogy to a scene in LightJockey is a single picture frame on a roll of film. As the picture
frame, a scene only contains static information, so a scene cannot contain both red and blue color
commands for the same color wheel on the same fixture. Like the film, the 'animation' or changes
happen when the film progresses through the individual picture frames to form a movie. This is what
happens when one scene is replaced by another scene, as in a sequence or when replacing one cue
with another cue.
As mentioned, the scene only contains static commands, note however that not all static commands
to fixtures result in a static 'expression'.
For example a command to a fixture to strobe or rotate it's color wheel will result in a 'dynamic'
expression - in this case the static command specifies a strobe-frequency or rotation speed but the
fixture performs the actual dynamic.