DMX shortcuts in Arena 7.14.2

[FlyingSuperkidsDK]

We are using DMX shortcuts to control Resolume.
We have the following two issues:

When we enable piano mode (clip trigger style) we can't trigger clips via DMX, but it works fine if i click and hold, also if i map it to a keyboard key.
We have mapped the clips to one dmx channel for the whole layer, so by sending value 001 on dmx selects clip in column 1 etc.

Is this expected behaviour? There is quite a few ahortcomings in the documentation on dmx shortcuts, so i don't see any description of expected behaviour, but from what i can read online, this is not how it is supposed to work?

The other thing is:
Is is in any way possible to determine in which order multiple functions gets patched to a single dmx channel? we do, for instance, have play backwards, pause playback and play forwards, patched to the same dmx channel, but we would like the pause playback, to be the one selected first (eg. value 0-85) so when chamsys transmits 0 (when cue stack is released and channel is set to HTP) then we would pause the clip.

We run Arena 7.14.2 on Mac OS Ventura 13.2.1 (Mac studio 2022 / M1 max 32GB)
We have to machines running parallel, and both exhibit same behavior

[Zoltán]

We have mapped the clips to one dmx channel for the whole layer, so by sending value 001 on dmx selects clip in column 1 etc.

Piano trigger won't work with next clip button. Next/prev clip buttons produce a momentary event.
What you could try, would be mapping the Layer clear to the same DMX channel but inverted.

Is is in any way possible to determine in which order multiple functions gets patched to a single dmx channel?

Multi state items like the play direction are distributed evenly across the 0-100% (0-255) range
So a 4 state item would activate it's first option between 0-25%

[FlyingSuperkidsDK]

What you could try, would be mapping the Layer clear to the same DMX channel but inverted.

I tried this, but unfortunately that seems to have created a quite serious stability issue. I tried to apply a DMX shortcut to the layer clear button, assigned to the same channel as clip select for that layer. This has now caused Arena to stop responding every time I touch any parameter on that layer (layer 21).
I have tried the following:

• Removing the shortcut I had added
• Rebooting the MAC
• Reinstalling Arena
• Removing layer 21 and adding a new "clean" layer

It happens both when I trigger something by clicking and by using shortcuts.

All our layers have identical properties (pretty much default, but with colorize added, and changes to resolution and scale, to make it fit our LED wall)

I then tried to export the media, in order to load the setup onto our identical backup machine, but the media manager just kept searching. I left it for 30 minutes, with no results. If i stop the search, nothing happens, and if i specify a path for export, it only exports one media clip. But i have no idea if this could be related to the layer issue above, as i have not tried to export the media on this machine before.

This has been running for a few weeks now, with almost no issues, but now this suddenly happens.
We have had some quirky behavior during programming (mostly unresponsiveness and a crash or two), but nothing during shows.

Something else to note is, that once Arena freezes, i have to force quit it, in order to close it. If i then reopen Arena right after i have force quit it (within 10-20 seconds) Arena will then just straight up freeze right when it opens, despite me not having touched anything yet.

But if I wait a few minutes before reopening Arena, it will work fine, until i touch something on layer 21.

Here is a link to a video that might help explain the issue: https://cloud.blueskypro.dk/s/WeXMmwAWZZs9R4t

Could you please assist on this? we have shows again this friday and need it resolved ASAP?
I have teamviewer access to the MACs and you can reach me on email: ramus@flyingsuperkids.com, I am currently on another jo with bad cell reception, so we need to arrange calls, so I can get to a place with proper cell reception if needed.

[Zoltán]

Are you using mp4 files?
Convert them to DXV, and hangs will be gone.
viewtopic.php?t=21980

[FlyingSuperkidsDK]

OK, we will give it a shot,
I'll keep you posted

[FlyingSuperkidsDK]

So it worked after running all the files through Alley.
Though we still have issues, where some clips won't start playing when selected, while others will.

We have solved most of these by enabling Fader start. But this does not solve the issue when changing clips on the same layer. The clip pauses, and we have to press play, for it to play the video.
This only happens on some clips, even though they have all been converted to DXV through Alley?

On another note, your suggestion about mapping shortcuts:

What you could try, would be mapping the Layer clear to the same DMX channel but inverted.

Does not work, as it triggers clear on ANY change in DMX channel level. I don't seem to be able to limit it to only trigger clear, when I send "0" on that DMX channel.

[Zoltán]

Does the clip transport get paused?

Does not work, as it triggers clear on ANY change in DMX channel level. I don't seem to be able to limit it to only trigger clear, when I send "0" on that DMX channel.

Ah, you do ConenctSpecificClip, right.

[FlyingSuperkidsDK]

Sorry for the delay,

Here is a video showing the "clip does not play on select" issue:
https://cloud.blueskypro.dk/s/dEHzMgw4DKZKJaS

and yes, I use connect specific clip.

We have migrated from an old Hippotizer V3, so we are trying to make the shortcut setup resemble the old hippo setup as much as possible, so it is less of a learning curve for the different programmers we have. also, we have quite a lot of clips, so mapping each clip to a channel is a bit much.

[Arvol]

Map your clips to the > UI option at the end of each layer/group. 1 Channel to scroll through clips.

[FlyingSuperkidsDK]

Map your clips to the > UI option at the end of each layer/group. 1 Channel to scroll through clips.

We are already doing that, but the clips are not cleared when channel value goes to zero.
We have circumvented this by programming chamsys to to send 255 when we don't use the "select clip" option. This will select clip 255 on the layer, which is always empty, thus "clearing" the layer.

But the main problem for now, is that some clips won't auto play when selected, even though they have been run through Alley, to ensure proper encoding.