Actions

An Action tells the controller what to do when it receives a Trigger. It is the THEN part of an IF THEN statement.

Example:

IF (Real Time is 10:00:00) THEN (Start Timeline 1)

The Real Time Trigger will fire whenever the built in Real Time clock tells the controller that it is 10:00:00, and the controller will then Start Timeline 1.

There are many different Actions that can be linked to a Trigger which can affect the output of the controller, feedback on a Pharos BPS or Touch Device or send a message to another control system, among other things.

Where included, the Controller setting specifies which controller in a Multi-controller setup should run the action

Playback Actions

Playback actions are used to directly or indirectly affect the lighting output of the controller.

Timeline Actions

Timeline Actions are used to control Timelines and their output to fixtures.

Start Timeline

Starts a timeline, use the configuration pane to select which timeline.

Release Timeline

Releases a timeline, use the configuration pane to select which timeline and an optional release time.

Toggle Timeline

Starts a timeline if it's not running, or releases the timeline if it is, use the configuration pane to select which timeline and an optional release time.

Release All

Choose which playback objects to release, with an optional release time.

• All - Release all timelines and scenes
• Timelines - Release all active timelines
• Scenes - Release all active scenes

 

• Off - Ignore groups
• Group - Release objects in the chosen group
• Except Group - Release objects not in the chosen group

NOTE: If any overrides are in effect, these will only be released with a Release All - All action. To clear overrides with any of the other options, use the Clear RGB action at the same time.

Pause Timeline

Pauses a timeline at its current position - effects and media will also freeze, use the configuration pane to select which timeline.

Resume Timeline

Resumes playback of a paused timeline from its current position, use the configuration pane to select which timeline.

Pause All

Pauses all timelines at their current position - effects and media will also freeze.

Resume All

Resumes playback of all paused timelines from their current positions.

Set Timeline Rate

The set timeline rate action allows the playback speed of a particular timeline to be modified on the fly. You can select which timeline you want to control or get the timeline number from a variable. The rate is specified as a percentage, where 100% is the programmed rate, 200% would be double speed, and 50% would be half speed. The rate can also be driven by a variable.

Set Timeline Position

The set timeline position action allows the playback position of a particular timeline to be modified on the fly, typically the timeline would be paused to prevent it running on by itself. You can select which timeline you want to control or get the timeline number from a variable.

The reference for the desired position can be specified as a relative position, absolute position, or flag position.

Relative position requires a percentage with 0% being the start and 100% the end of the timeline. The position can also be driven by a variable.

Absolute position requires a time in seconds. The playback position will be set as if the timeline has been running for the number of seconds specified. Where a timeline is set to loop, this means that playback positions beyond the length of the timeline are converted to a position in the timeline. For example, a 10s looping timeline set to 24s will have its playback position set to 4s.

Flag position allows the playback position of a timeline to be set to a timeline flag. Flag position cannot be used when the Timeline is selected using a variable.

Scene Actions

Scene Actions are used to control the output of Scenes.

Start Scene

Starts a scene, use the configuration pane to select which scene.

Release Scene

Releases a scene, use the configuration pane to select which scene and an optional release time.

Toggle Scene

Starts a scene if it's not running, or releases the scene if it is, use the configuration pane to select which scene and an optional release time.

Other Playback Actions

These Playback actions can be used to affect the playback in other ways.

Master Intensity

Sets the intensity of a group of fixtures, use the configuration pane to select the controller, group, intensity level, fade and delay times. Because the LPCs are genuine lighting controllers as opposed to DMX framestore devices, realtime control of intensity is available at all times as it would be on a sophisticated lighting console. You can control the intensity of one or more groups of fixtures regardless of what timeline(s) they may be running.

If you select a VLC/VLC+ the intensity of the whole of the selected Content Target in the specified composition will be mastered instead of a fixture group.

You can think of each group as having its own intensity fader, which this action allows you to move between 100% (default) and 0%. You can specify which group to affect and the new position for the fader. It is sometimes useful to set the fader position (as a percentage) from a variable - this permits direct intensity mastering via an input such as serial, MIDI or DMX. The fade and delay times can also be set from variables.

The fader modifies the programmed intensity for all fixtures within the group. On startup all groups have their faders at 100%. Where multiple groups containing the same fixtures have their intensity reduced then the decrease is cumulative.

Note that if you decrease intensity for one group you can only increase it again by acting on the same group. Applying an increase intensity action to a different group will have no effect even if that group contains the same fixtures - you would be trying to move a different fader.

Increase & Decrease Intensity

Increases or decreases the intensity of a group of fixtures, use the configuration pane to select the, group, step size (in percent), fade and delay times. Because the LPCs are genuine lighting controllers as opposed to DMX framestore devices, realtime control of intensity is available at all times as it would be on a sophisticated lighting console. You can control the intensity of one or more groups of fixtures regardless of what timeline(s) they may be running.

If you select a VLC/VLC+ the intensity of the whole of the selected Content Target in the specified composition will be mastered instead of a fixture group.

You can think of each group as having its own intensity fader, which these actions allow you to move between 100% (default) and 0%. You can specify which group to affect and the increment by which to change the fader position. It is sometimes useful to set the step size, fade and delay times from variables.

The fader modifies the programmed intensity for all fixtures within the group. On startup all groups have their faders at 100%. Where multiple groups containing the same fixtures have their intensity reduced then the decrease is cumulative.

Note that if you decrease intensity for one group you can only increase it again by acting on the same group. Applying an increase intensity action to a different group will have no effect even if that group contains the same fixtures - you would be trying to move a different fader.

Set RGB

Use this to set a fixture or group's Intensity, Red, Green, Blue and Colour Temperature levels selectively either to a fixed value or to track a variable. The latter makes for some very interesting realtime effects when used in conjunction with 2D and Media presets. Set a fade time to introduce the change. You can also choose a fade path for the change.

To choose which levels are controlled, use the checkboxes for each parameter, e.g. if you only select Intensity, then only the Intensity level will be set. This allows you to have a single slider for each colour on the TPC (for example).

If you select a VLC/VLC+ colour and intensity will be mastered for the whole of the selected content target.

Clear RGB

Use this to clear one or all fixture IRGB overrides (see above), set a fade time to release the change(s).

If you select a VLC/VLC+ the intensity will be mastered for the whole of the selected content target.

Set Text Slot

The Set Text Slot trigger action allows you to change the value of a text slot from a trigger, see the Text Preset.

You select the slot either by picking from the Text Slot list or by specifying a variable. If you use a variable, the variable must have captured a string in the trigger, and that string must be the name of an existing text slot.

The value to put in the text slot is then selected with the second variable.

Set Timecode

Use this to set the timecode position for one of the six Time Sources (set the appropriate timecode format).

Set Volume

Use this Action to set the output volume of the controller (used for Timeline Audio Output)

Transition Target

Use this action to change the position or rotation of a Target (Primary, Secondary or Additional Content Targets or Adjustment Targets).

Select the Controller, Target Type, Composition/Adjustment, Content Target Type (Primary, Secondary, Target 3-8) and Property (Rotation, X Position or Y Position) and set the relevant values.

Count specifies how many times to make the change , Period determines how long the change should take and Delay determines the pause before making the change.

Set Content Target Blur

Use this action to set a blur on one or more content targets within the project.

Use the blur radius to affect the level of blurring applied to the target, all content output to the target will then be blurred with this setting.

You can cause the blur to fade in using the fade and delay settings.

Interactive Actions

These Interactive actions are used to cause feedback to be displayed on an Interface, such as the Touch Device or the BPS

Set BPS Button LED 

The BPS has eight buttons each with an integral white LED.

Use the configuration pane to select the BPS, button number (which can be driven by a variable) and the desired LED behaviour. Enabling "Set all other LEDs to default" will set the other LEDs to their default values as specified in BPS properties.

Touch Device Actions

Touch device actions will apply to all touch devices in the project. To apply only to a particular touch device, use the 'Touch Device' field to set the type and number of the touch device you're interested in. When used in conjunction with a Touch Device Trigger, selecting 'Incoming Device' will apply the action to the device the parent Trigger originated from. To specify a particular TPC, enable the 'Trigger Controller Edit' project feature, set the action's controller to your TPC and set 'Touch Device' to 'Local'.

Set Touch Control Value

Use this action to show feedback on Touch Device controls by changing their current value(s). Currently the Slider and Colour Picker controls support this.

Set the Control field to the target control key, or use the variable injection syntax to make this action work for several controls with similar control keys - the syntax is the same as for the Serial and Ethernet Output action.

Set the Index field to the index of the value that should be changed. For a Slider, this should always be 1, but for a Colour Picker it could be 1, 2 or 3 to set red, green or blue. The index can alternatively be set from a variable. Finally choose the value to set, or elect to set this from a variable.

Set Touch Control State

Use this action to show feedback on Touch Device controls by changing their appearance. The theme applied to an Interface contains various 'states' for each control type. This action lets you change the active state for a control.

Set the Control field to the target control key, or use the variable injection syntax to make this action work for several controls with similar control keys - the syntax is the same as for the Serial and Ethernet Output action. It is also possible to use the wildcard character to change multiple controls at once. For example, using "button*" would set all controls with a key that begins with "button" to the specified state.

Select the state from the drop down list or choose to set the Control to its default state.

Set Touch Control Caption

Use this action to change the caption of Touch Device controls, including Labels.

Set the Control field to the target control key, or use the variable injection syntax to make this action work for several controls with similar control keys - the syntax is the same as for the Serial and Ethernet Output action.

Finally enter the text to set as the new caption. Variables can be used in this text, using the same syntax as for the Serial and Ethernet Output action.

Set Touch Page

Use this action to change the current page shown on a Touch Device .

Set the Page field to the name of the target page, or use the variable injection syntax to make this action work for several pages with similar names - the syntax is the same as for the Serial and Ethernet Output action.

Disable Touch Device

The entire user interface of a Touch Device can be enabled or disabled. Select the Touch Device you're interested in, then choose whether to enable or disable the user interface.

Lock Touch Device

If security has been set up in the Interface then this action can be used to show the lock screen on the target Touch Device. The user must enter the correct code on the keypad in order to unlock the Touch Device.

Select the Touch Device you're interested in, then choose whether to lock or unlock the user interface.

Set Screen Brightness

The brightness of the backlight of a Touch Device may be set using this action. Select the Touch Device you're interested in, then set the value as a percentage, or elect to set this from a variable. Use the Fade Time option to specify a time, in seconds, over which the brightness should fade. The maximum time is 60s.

NOTE: The brightness of the Touch Device screen can be set automatically in response to changes in ambient light - see Controller Properties.

Set Touch Button Pressed

You can set the state of a maintained touch button. The Button field should be set to the Control Key of the button you're adjusting. Set the checkbox for if the button should be pressed or not

NOTE: This action will not activate and triggers related to changes in the maintained buttons state.

Protocol Actions

Protocol Actions are used to communicate with other control systems or third party devices or to affect third party signals going into the controller.

Start RDM Poll

Initiates the RDM fixture polling process, refreshing the controller's record of connected RDM fixtures.

This action is only available on LPC/LPC X and TPC family controllers.

Output Serial

RS232 EIA-232; an industry standard communications protocol for computing and telecommunications equipment. remains a very popular protocol for interfacing equipment and the RS232 port of a Controller or Remote Device can be configured to support most common data formats. RS485 EIA-485; an industry standard communications protocol for computing and industrial equipment. is a more robust alternative to RS232 (better noise immunity, longer cable lengths and faster data rates) and is a widely supported protocol. A Controller or Remote Device can be configured to send RS232 full-duplex or RS485 half-duplex in the Network view, see Controller interfaces and Remote Devices. A TPC with EXT can send RS232 full-duplex.

To send serial from a Controller's serial port, use the Controller setting to specify the Controller number, leave the Device as Local and choose a port number. For the revised LPC hardware and TPC with EXT this should be set to 1. For the LPC X this should be set to 1 or 2, depending which RS232 port is being used.

Alternatively, set the Device to a RIO and select the RIO number.

Now define the string of output characters. There are three formats in which serial strings can be entered:

Hex	A series of hexadecimal characters (0-9, a-f, A-F) where pairs of values are interpreted as a byte.
Decimal	A series of decimal characters (0-255) separated by "." characters.
ASCII	A series of ASCII characters. The special characters '\n' for new line, '\r' for carriage return, and '\t' for tab are supported.

Output Ethernet

Use the Controller setting to specify which Controller should generate the Ethernet output. Define the recipient's IP address and Port, select the messaging protocol (UDP, TCP) and define the string of output characters to be transmitted. The recipients IP address and port number can be passed with variables.

When sending UDP messages it is possible to specify a bus to send from. This will force the UDP packet to be sent from the port number specified in that bus.

When sending TCP messages it is possible to specify a bus to send from. If the selected bus is of type TCP Client, the connection to the third-party device will be created before the message is sent. If the bus is of type TCP, the message will be sent using an existing connection to the third-party device, if one is available, otherwise the data will be sent from a different port to that which is specified in the bus settings.

Output MIDI

MIDI "Musical Instrument Digital Interface"; an industry standard communications protocol for musical instruments.  is another very popular protocol for interfacing equipment and the MIDI input trigger allows you to define, via a convenient MIDI Message Builder, the type (Short message, MIDI Show Control or Extended) and command string that is to be output.

Use the Controller setting to specify which LPC's MIDI port should be used as the output. To use the MIDI port on a RIO A, set the Device to RIO A and specify the RIO A number.

Press Edit to open the Message Builder:

Press Add, select one of the three message types and then the specific command and variables.

Press Delete to delete a command string.

The resulting hexadecimal string will be constructed automatically and displayed in the window for reference with question marks ("??") indicating undefined characters in MIDI Show Control (since we do not know in advance how many characters will be captured) or <c>, <d> and <x> as appropriate for Short and Extended messages.

Press Ok to finish.

A comprehensive guide to MIDI is beyond the scope of this document, see the MIDI Manufacturers Association for more details, and the manual for the equipment to be interfaced will also certainly be an invaluable reference.

Output Digital

The RIO 08 has eight relay outputs, the RIO 44 has four and the RIO 80 none.

Use the configuration pane to select the RIO, output and the state of the relay.

It is also possible to Toggle the output (turning it on if it is off and off when it is on)

Toggle Audio

Use this to stop a RIO A from processing audio. This can aid troubleshooting as audio activity tends to fill the log. Select RIO A and specify the RIO A number.

Toggle eDMX Pass-Through

Use this to enable or disable eDMX Pass-Through on an LPC's DMX ports. Choose which port you want to enable or disable by choosing from the port selection box. See patch for more information.

Disable Output

Use this to stop output of a selected protocol from the controller. This will prevent the controller from outputting the selected protocol, allowing another devices to take over control of the lighting, or disabling an output for test purposes.

DALI Actions

Set DALI Output

Use this to set the output on DALI fixtures patched to a specified Interface. You can specify whether you want all of the fixtures on that Interface, fixtures in a certain group or a single fixture to be affected by the change. You can also specify a fade time or choose to reuse the last fade time stored on the ballasts.

This action allows the following to be set:

• Level - The intensity of the fixture
• XY - The intensity and R,G,B values
• TC - The intensity and colour temperature
• RGBWA - The intensity and direct colour values

The Level property has two curve options available. These are 'DALI Native' and 'Linear'.

Selecting DALI Native will send the specified level directly to the ballast which then converts this to the DALI dimming curve (which is logarithmic) and outputs the level.

If Linear is selected, the controller will modify the value so that once the ballast applies the normal DALI dimming curve maths, the resultant output will be the originally supplied level.

Recall DALI Scene

Use this to recall a DALI scene on DALI fixtures patched to a specified Interface. You can specify whether you want all of the fixtures on that Interface, fixtures in a certain group or a single fixture to be affected by the scene change. You can also specify a fade time or choose to reuse the last fade time stored on the ballasts.

Send DALI Command

Use this to send a DALI command to DALI fixtures patched to a specified Interface. You can specify whether you want all of the fixtures on that Interface, fixtures in a certain group or a single fixture to be affected by the command. DALI commands include off, fade up/down, step up/down, step to min/max, step down and off and step up and on. Where fading is involved, you can specify a fade rate or choose to reuse the last fade rate stored on the ballasts.

When the Tridonic custom DALI commands Project feature is enabled, Light Sensor and Motion Sensor commands can be output to emulate these devices.

NOTE: Light Sensor and Occupancy sensor commands require the Tridonic custom DALI commands Project feature to be enabled

Start DALI Emergency Test

Use this to start a Duration or Function test on all or a single DALI address(es) on the specified interface.

Stop DALI Emergency Test

Use this to stop a Duration or Function test on all or a single DALI address(es) on the specified interface.

Mark DALI Ballast Fixed

Use this to mark all or a single emergency ballast as fixed on the specified interface.

Set DALI Feedback State

RIO D4 required.

Use this action to send either a DALI Activate Feedback or DALI Stop Feedback command on the specified interface.

DALI Feedback consists of something a device can do to provide user indication, for example lighting an LED indicator.

Select the Interface, Address and Instance on which to send the command.

Use the Command property to specify whether the action should start or stop feedback.

Remote Management Actions

Remote Management actions are used to communicate with the Remote Management service that is powered by SixEye.

Remote Site Notification Action

Use this action to send a Remote Site Notification to subscribed Remote Site users. Choose between a Warning or Error notification and provide a message. Notifications will be sent to Users containing the Notification type, message, Device and Site the Notification was generated from, a timestamp generated by the Remote Site and a link to the device in the Remote Site. The current user must be logged into the Remote Site in Designer during upload.

Run Remote Site Task Action

Use this action to run a Task in the controllers current Remote Site. To select a Task ensure the current user is logged into the Remote Site in Designer and has the correct Permissions to interact with Tasks. The specified controller must also be part of the Remote Site. Once setup the device itself is responsible for running the Task, so user permissions are irrelevant.

System Actions

System actions are actions that functionally affect the controller or the project, such as running scripts.

Log Message Action

Use this action to easily log a message into the log of the Web Interface. The Level option will determine at which “log level” the message can be seen at, and all levels below. For example, a Terse level will show when the log level is set to Terse, and every level below, but not Critical. However, a Debug message will only show in Debug.

Enqueue Trigger

Use this to fire one Trigger from within another Trigger. The second trigger will be fired once the actions in the first trigger have run. You can specify which trigger you want to fire or which variable you want to use to get the trigger number from. You can also choose whether you want test the conditions of that trigger or not.

Run Script

Use this to run a Lua script, press Launch Editor to open the script editing dialog. If you can not achieve what you want with the triggers and actions provided it is almost certain that a script can be defined to solve your problem.

The script selection drop-down defaults to Quick Script, where you can provide a short Lua script. To use a longer script, use the script selection drop-down to select an existing script from the project, or click 'New Script' to open the script editing dialog.

Pharos Controllers support a scripting language that can be used for handling complicated conditional triggering or other advanced control requirements. The user can write scripts and set them to run in response to any trigger event. From within a script you can do all the things that you can do with a trigger in the triggers screen – access passed-in variables, test conditions and perform actions - but you can also define more complicated conditional statements and perform mathematical operations.

Example Scripts are available in this help file.

WARNING: Scripts are an advanced feature intended to solve problems that cannot be addressed in any other way. They are not as user-friendly as the normal triggers interface and incorrectly written scripts will not work as intended and could cause other problems with the operation of your Controller. For help with writing scripts, please see the Trigger Script Programming Guide, or please contact support to discuss requirements for a particular project.

Hardware Reset

Use this to force the Controller(s) to perform a hard reset which is equivalent to a power cycle. Note that unlike PC based solutions there is no particular advantage or maintenance requirement to periodically reset a Controller, this action is offered purely as a method of resetting the system to a defined, start-up state.