Stupid Question #30 - Fades Don't End Evenly

[jimswinder]

As usual, this is probably operator error, but how do you get fades to end equally?

I see it works when all the fades START at the same timing mark...but how do you do it when the fades all start at DIFFERENT timing marks and you want them to END equally at a certain timing mark?

I know this is probably Basic Sequencing 101..or maybe I just never noticed it before.

[JBullard]

What kind of lights? LED or incadescent?

If LEDs, are they all from the same mfg?

[Victory402]

Does the problem occur when your looking at your lights in the yard or are you looking at your computer screen in the sequence editor?

When sequencing and fading down it is a bit tricky lining up the ends points, I just look up at the timing mark and go by memory as to where i stopped. sometimes i have to run my curser over the end cell of my last fade to see if it's off or if it says 100% - 0% to get my bearings straight.

[Max-Paul]

Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but I hear you saying that you want all of your fades that start at different times to all end at the same time.

Ok, as one person noted that icans and LEDs have a different fade curve. Also some LEDS have a different fade curve.

Ok icans are just about out at about 2% but lets just say it is 0%.
Some LEDs go out at about 15%.
And some LEDs go out at about 10%

So, once you have identified your different strings cutout point. Pick a point on the grid you want all of your lights to fade out. Using the fade down tool and with the fade limits set. (oh forgot also LEDs max out at about 50-60%, while icans might not max out till about 100%, so set your fades accordingly). So, start your fade from what ever time point on the grid and all will end at the same time in the grid. Now lets say you fade some items for 10 seconds and some for 5 seconds. There is a good possibility that not all are going to be the same intensity from 5 seconds down.

[jimswinder]

Max-Paul wrote:

Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but I hear you saying that you want all of your fades that start at different times to all end at the same time.

Ok, as one person noted that icans and LEDs have a different fade curve. Also some LEDS have a different fade curve

No...not what I am saying as I run all LED's. Where I am seeing it is in the sequence editor (see below).

I have attached two shots..one where you can see the four different channels completely, then zoomed in. I stopped them all in the same timing mark (30 sec mark), but as you can see they don't all end there.



Attached files

[Steven]

That's just a rounding error in the display of the sequence editor. Each channel row is only about 25 pixels high, but it represents intensities of 0 to 100%.

An intensity of 4% is represented by a line 1 pixel high. When it goes down below 2%, the line will now be 0 pixels high, which looks the same as off. Since your fades are at different rates, the point where each gets to 2% is different, even if they get to 0% at the same time.

You may be able to see the fades at this detail if you zoom in to the channel rows. The only real way to know exactly is to use the tooltips by hovering over the location and reading the event times.

In practice, it's going to be very difficult to get different lights to fade down at different rates and still reach "off" at the same time, but in practice, that doesn't matter.

[jimswinder]

Steven wrote:

That's just a rounding error in the display of the sequence editor. Each channel row is only about 25 pixels high, but it represents intensities of 0 to 100%.

An intensity of 4% is represented by a line 1 pixel high. When it goes down below 2%, the line will now be 0 pixels high, which looks the same as off. Since your fades are at different rates, the point where each gets to 2% is different, even if they get to 0% at the same time.

You may be able to see the fades at this detail if you zoom in to the channel rows. The only real way to know exactly is to use the tooltips by hovering over the location and reading the event times.

In practice, it's going to be very difficult to get different lights to fade down at different rates and still reach "off" at the same time, but in practice, that doesn't matter.

Would this be true in the animator also? Becasue that is where I first noticed that the all the fades ended at different times.

I can see a difference in a few tenths of a second...but the difference between the green channel and the blue is over one second!! At least it "appears" that way.

I will check the tool tips tonight and see what it says...

Thanks..

[JBullard]

The best way to tell if it is a problem or not is to hook some lights to a controller and test it. That's what I do all the time. Especially with strobes and fades, oh and the CCRs.

I don't trust the animator screen for any kind of accuracy.