SX2001A update concerns

[Leo Enticknap]

Oh; the GDC certificate expiration. Sorry - forgot.

[Jon Dent]

Well we got our new IMS3000 units up and running today and they worked just fine for our evening show. I do miss the CRU dock though....

Funny aside: our installer was placing the old SX2000a IMB aside and he fumbled it a bit and one of the batteries fell out. Now it's useless for sure

Another funny aside: Installer is trying to tell me there's no automation cue to switch a CP750 from 5.1 to 7.1 decode and that you should never need to switch it out of 7.1 mode. I keep telling him yes there is, I've been using it for a year now and if we don't switch modes the rear surrounds are silent on 5.1 content. Nice guy, but some real gaps in his knowledge.

And before you go too harsh on him the poor guy was nursing an injured back and he still drove 9 hours to help us out of a bind.

[Leo Enticknap]

Not only is there a cue, but it's included in the IMS3000's cue library. This screenshot is from a 2000, but the 3000 has the same functionality:

CP750_IMS2000.JPG

[Jon Dent]

It looks like he created a text command that does the same thing, so everything works fine.

It just felt weird knowing more about a piece of equipment than a guy that does this stuff professionally, whereas its a side job and passion hobby for me.

[Leo Enticknap]

I've been in that situation once or twice (usually involving a Christie projector: my job only requires me to touch them two or three times a year, as my company is primarily a Barco and NEC dealer), as has, I suspect, every tech whose work is essentially integration, and therefore not focused on the products of just one or two manufacturers. It's always best just to thank the customer and move on. However, don't claim that something is impossible unless you're absolutely, 200% sure of that, and after going through all the relevant manuals first. It's almost never impossible as in, a CP65 can't decode Atmos impossible. An initial belief of impossible usually translates into "do-able, but not easily" after some figuring out.

[Jon Dent]

I've been in that situation once or twice (usually involving a Christie projector: my job only requires me to touch them two or three times a year, as my company is primarily a Barco and NEC dealer), as has, I suspect, every tech whose work is essentially integration, and therefore not focused on the products of just one or two manufacturers. It's always best just to thank the customer and move on. However, don't claim that something is impossible unless you're absolutely, 200% sure of that, and after going through all the relevant manuals first. It's almost never impossible as in, a CP65 can't decode Atmos impossible. An initial belief of impossible usually translates into "do-able, but not easily" after some figuring out.

I understand that completely, and I admit that I go out of my way to try to understand every nook and cranny of our equipment. In this case it was more surprise that he didn't know about this ability or really get why we need to use it. And if by some cosmic coincidence the need was demonstrated when we got our hard drive of Venom 2, where if you don't use ATMOS you're stuck with classic 5.1 only.

[Tony Bandiera Jr]

I've been in that situation once or twice (usually involving a Christie projector: my job only requires me to touch them two or three times a year, as my company is primarily a Barco and NEC dealer), as has, I suspect, every tech whose work is essentially integration, and therefore not focused on the products of just one or two manufacturers. It's always best just to thank the customer and move on. However, don't claim that something is impossible unless you're absolutely, 200% sure of that, and after going through all the relevant manuals first. It's almost never impossible as in, a CP65 can't decode Atmos impossible. An initial belief of impossible usually translates into "do-able, but not easily" after some figuring out.

RE the part I emphasized above:

I had a celebrity client who REALLY wanted to be able to adjust the brightness and contrast (Via their touchscreen) on their Cp-2210 for alternate content. I had been told by many that it was impossible without the service remote. (And truthfully, until tasked to make it happen, I too thought it was not possible.)

Well after a bit of research and a call to Christie, not only was I able to program the AMX to set the parameters by serial commands, I was able to design in a "Normal" button that restored both brightness and contrast to the levels I initially set up for them. The client was over the moon with it, and used that ability almost daily.

The only glitch? My initial code for the AMX master had a very simple syntax error that would cause each parameter to go to zero (full black and minimum contrast respectively) anytime you tried to change it.) After a quick walkthrough of my code on site with a more experienced programmer, a simple change of ONE punctuation mark got it working. (Anyone who has done AMX programming knows that they use punctuation marks to set up how a command "talks" in RS 232 and the order, spacing, etc. is crucial.) Side note, I learned to program AMX Axxcent code by just jumping in and doing it (with some help from the programming guide) due to a certain programmer (not the same one who helped out) constantly providing sloppy code loaded with bloat and unnecessary commands.

One of the most visible examples was the code I wrote for the UC screening rooms which provided a fully automated "Show Start" for running film, which had intro music, lighting cues, curtain calls, motor start, changeover AND sound format cues, all timed perfectly for a wow factor open to the show. Leo may have encountered it in the McCormick screening room.