# Eos Magic Sheets



## SteveB (Mar 6, 2013)

Spent the afternoon playing with this.

This is based on our basic generic kid show plot, 26 channels of basic washes and area's.

The channel buttons are all touch screen buttons as are the group buttons. The linear row on the left numeric values for levels, with @, Thru and Enter. 

The fill area in the channel buttons can mirror channel level as a grey scale, with the button border retaining a defined color representing the gel color.

Ton's of customizing available, button line thickness, fonts, sizes, etc... 

Pretty ****ed impressed so far and still playing.


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## Lsly (Mar 6, 2013)

I'm with you SteveB. Looks like a powerful feature. I'm also curious to see how fexi in the direct selects will work. I'm playing with iDisplay just now, combining with magic sheets should be fun! 

LS


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## zmb (Mar 7, 2013)

Is this available on the whole Eos line if I wanted to set these up on an Element?


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## tyler.martin (Mar 7, 2013)

It will be available for all Eos family consoles. There will be a limit of 1 Magic Sheet per show on the Element IIRC


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## sk8rsdad (Mar 7, 2013)

Here are a few of mine to build the buzz. These are 2 views of the same show at the same moment in time. Zoom and view selection controls help to navigate and stay organized. These are tuned to providing a lot of information at a glance without having to translate numbers and palette tags, and to quickly select a particular system or fixture and tune it.




I was a little bored one day. Yes that is an Ion, and no, it is not fully functional but large chunks of it work. Why anybody would want an Ion to behave like an Express eludes me.


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## derekleffew (Mar 7, 2013)

sk8rsdad said:


> ... Why anybody would want an Ion to behave like an Express eludes me. ...


Genius sk8rsdad, just genious.  I might add that this is what Emphasis was supposed to be, fifteen years ago. The Compulite Animator had a rudimentary "topo [topological] map" what?, twenty years ago. Since then we've been forcing our moving light layouts onto a 10x10 grid for display.

I for one would love an Ion if it looked/worked just like an Expression; I know where all the buttons are, and how to do everything. 

Now I'm wondering if it would be possible to save the magic sheet(s) as a separate file in order to share with others? We may have to start a repository here on CB, akin to what MA-share.net does with fixture profiles.
Sure every lighting setup is unique, but if I see a console screen layout I like, it would (probably?) be easier to copy someone else's and edit, rather than build my own from scratch.
.


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## sk8rsdad (Mar 7, 2013)

Magic Sheets can be exported and imported via the showfile (see HansH post below) or as an XML file, so yes it's easy to share. However the entanglement with the show file makes sharing a little more problematic, as do potential issues with image files and copyright.


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## Chris Chapman (Mar 7, 2013)

How hard is it to implement a Magic Sheet? I run a rep plot 90% of the time and this would be awesome. I haven't downloaded the latest update yet. I'm running an Ion. What format does the floorplan/plot need to be read? I'm running VectorWorks for design stuff. Really geeked about this.


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## derekleffew (Mar 7, 2013)

Now before everyone gets _too_ excited, Eos-family magic sheets are a feature of the long-anticipated V2.x software, first shown at LDI '12, and currently in public beta/release candidate. Official version is expected to be released at USITT '13 this month and/or "shortly" (per avalentino; inside joke).

Chris, see Gio Magic Sheet - ETC forums, and similar discussions like this, there.


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## HansH (Mar 7, 2013)

sk8rsdad said:


> Magic Sheets can be exported and imported as an XML file, so yes it's easy to share.


FWIW - importing and exporting can be done via XML, but this is more of an advanced feature. Our recommended way of sharing magic sheets would be through the showfile. You can get a "magic sheets only" version of the showfile fairly quickly by:
- Saving the showfile
- Opening only the magic sheets (via the Open function, using the partial open buttons. It will clear out any data that is not selected)
- Saving the simplified showfile - this can be uploaded and transported around without tying back to previous data.


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## JohnD (Mar 7, 2013)

You know, it says something about a company when the technical support people are supporting something that isn't even released yet, And in the other direction, they try to support everyting they have ever released, That's Ace in my book.


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## SteveB (Mar 7, 2013)

derekleffew said:


> Now before everyone gets _too_ excited, Eos-family magic sheets are a feature of the long-anticipated V2.x software, first shown at LDI '12, and currently in public beta/release candidate. Official version is expected to be released at USITT '13 this month and/or "shortly" (per avalentino; inside joke).
> 
> Chris, see Gio Magic Sheet - ETC forums, and similar discussions like this, there.



I believe the posted release date for v2.0 AND a new manual, is 3/18/13.


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## derekleffew (Mar 7, 2013)

SteveB said:


> I believe the posted release date for v2.0 AND a new manual, is 3/18/13.


Wow, only sixteen days away. Someone had better get busy on my list of bug fixes and feature requests. Though I suspect I'll wait until at least v2.0_x_ until I deploy it on a show. "A dog once scalded fears even cold water." "Not leading edge. Bleeding edge."


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## sk8rsdad (Mar 7, 2013)

derekleffew said:


> Though I suspect I'll wait until at least v2.0_x_ until I deploy it on a show.



I've been using 2.0 on shows since June, 2012 with nary a hiccup in performance and nothing catastrophic during programming. 

I'm not sure I should talk out of school but there have been more than 100 shows run on 2.0 software including some highly visible broadcasts to millions so I wouldn't be particularly concerned about a showstopper sort of bug cropping up. I'm sure nobody at ETC would proclaim 2.0 is perfect but I have faith in their efforts to make sure it is stable. They understand the nature of the entertainment industry. 

As with any product of this nature, there will always be a long list of bugs, debatable design issues and opportunities for improvement. By way of definition:

a bug is something that doesn't do what it is supposed to do.
a debatable design issue is something that does as intended but maybe the intention should be rethought.
an opportunity for improvement is anything that doesn't work the way *I* want.


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## DavidNorth (Mar 7, 2013)

derekleffew said:


> Wow, only sixteen days away. Someone had better get busy on my list of bug fixes and feature requests. Though I suspect I'll wait until at least v2.0_x_ until I deploy it on a show. "A dog once scalded fears even cold water." "Not leading edge. Bleeding edge."



As you wish. It's been running quite a few shows for months now, including some very large, live, national TV broadcasts [award shows].....but by all means, everyone should find their comfort zone.

How many of us cringe when considering buying a first year model car or jump in on the next new Windows OS????

David


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## icewolf08 (Mar 8, 2013)

DavidNorth said:


> As you wish. It's been running quite a few shows for months now, including some very large, live, national TV broadcasts [award shows].....but by all means, everyone should find their comfort zone.
> 
> How many of us cringe when considering buying a first year model car or jump in on the next new Windows OS????
> 
> David



Who doesn't cringe when buying a Windoze OS? It seems like they only manage to get it right 50% of the releases....

That being said, I would install new console software when it came out. I mean, we will be in the middle of tech when EOS 2.0 is released, so maybe for the following show. Besides the next one is being designed by Karl, and he loves when I give him a barrage of console questions!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


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## ScaredOfHeightsLD (Mar 8, 2013)

DavidNorth said:


> including some very large, live, national TV broadcasts [award shows].....
> David



Looks like David beat me to it. But you would be astounded to learn what sorts of beta and even alpha software are running some of these shows. And not just in the lighting department.


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## SteveB (Mar 8, 2013)

Totally amazing how much easier it is to work in Magic Sheets when you have a manual !,

Which ETC released today as a beta on the FTP site.

THANK YOU !. 

I'm starting to think that magic sheets may do away with direct selects. When I saw some of the postings on the FB page earlier this winter, I had no idea how powerful and useful it would turn out to be. It's much better then I imagined.

THANK YOU EVERYONE AT ETC !.


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## xander (Mar 8, 2013)

SteveB said:


> I'm starting to think that magic sheets may do away with direct selects. When I saw some of the postings on the FB page earlier this winter, I had no idea how powerful and useful it would turn out to be. It's much better then I imagined.


Would you mind elaborating? I must not understand everything they are capable of because the way I think if them, they seem really cool for busking, one-offs, etc, but are absolutely useless in a traditional theater setting.

And on the beta topic, the last show I programmed used 2.0 on an ION (didn't have time to play with the magic sheets), we were batch testing some new Rosco colors, and ran QLab 3 beta. (Which, btw, is AWESOME) Everything is working just fine.

-Tim


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## SteveB (Mar 8, 2013)

xander said:


> Would you mind elaborating? I must not understand everything they are capable of because the way I think if them, they seem really cool for busking, one-offs, etc, but are absolutely useless in a traditional theater setting.
> 
> And on the beta topic, the last show I programmed used 2.0 on an ION (didn't have time to play with the magic sheets), we were batch testing some new Rosco colors, and ran QLab 3 beta. (Which, btw, is AWESOME) Everything is working just fine.
> 
> -Tim



I've attached a MS I'm working on for next weekend. A dance company Lec./Demo one-off. Full plot of 176 instruments, all conventionals. 

No hookup/plot from the company. A bit too many channels to easily run it on sub's, so it'll all be called back from channel numbers, except the SM doesn't know the channel numbers.

So the Magic Sheet will do a couple of things for me.

- When the SM asks for Magenta Bax at 70, Blue Cyc at Full, then some Lav sides from SL and Blue from SR, I need a magic sheet or the plot to find all those channel numbers.

- On screen it's not only a conventional magic sheet, it's also a touch screen so I can touch the channel/purpose buttons to get them recalled. I can then use the console keypad to set the levels. 

- The grey inside (fill) of the channel box is relative intensity. So I know at a glance what's on/off. During cue playback that's useful.

- The Magic Sheet can have a lot of things. Tombstones, Console Buttons (I can add a complete 0 thru 10 keypad if so desired, pretty much anything.

- I have not yet started on multiple Magic Sheets, that expands the capabilities. I can also import JPEG images, so if I want the plot on another page, save it as a different MS and save that as a Snapshot. 

As to replacing Direct Selects, take al look at the screen shots from sk8rsdad posted. Pretty neat stuff that allows better use of screen real estate then a more basic Direct Select display, though I still think DS's will continue to get used.


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## lj274mvp (Mar 8, 2013)

SteveB said:


> View attachment 8930
> 
> 
> I've attached a MS I'm working on for next weekend. A dance company Lec./Demo one-off. Full plot of 176 instruments, all conventionals.
> ...



Is this the open beta console firmware or is it the OLE?
I thought the open beta was only for the console firmware, but it looks like your using an OLE? 
howd you get it, just contact ETC?


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## SteveB (Mar 8, 2013)

lj274mvp said:


> Is this the open beta console firmware or is it the OLE?
> I thought the open beta was only for the console firmware, but it looks like your using an OLE?
> howd you get it, just contact ETC?



They have both OLE as well as console beta software available via request on the ETC forum. And of course they released the beta 2.0 manual today.

I'm normally reluctant to use beta software, especially on a critical device such as a lighting console, yet was aware that 2.0 has been out in use for a while, so felt confident with it. Then I saw the release date of 3/18 and realizing I had use for the features on some complicated shows at the end of March, wanted a head start on learning it, so put in a request.


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## lj274mvp (Mar 8, 2013)

oh ok thanks!


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## SteveB (Mar 9, 2013)

And as I discovered this morning, encouraged by a reply to a post of mine on the ETC forum about wanting Ch Labels to get Lightwright Purpose data, I was reminded that in the magic sheet configuration of the channel button(s), you have the ability to select data to be be displayed on (pretty much any) button, the Text fields from the Patch data base.

Thus if you imported from Lightwright the Purpose and Color, that data can be viewed on the buttons in the Magic Sheet and will automatically populate those buttons once you tell the button which channel it is. 

You then need to be aware of the size of the purpose name, in terms of whether it's a very long descriptive name such as "Side Blues 1 Wing Stage Right", and maybe truncate it to " Blu 1W R" or some such. And you need to be aware you are going to do this when you create the buttons, in terms of paying attention that button is large enough to display the text, as well as not too large for the use. 

Cool stuff !


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## patrickh (Mar 10, 2013)

I got to play with this on a gio and an element and enjoyed both. I am beyond excited about this update!


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## SteveB (Mar 10, 2013)

I used the Magic Sheet today for the first time on a one-off kid show of Sleeping Beauty - the same show for the magic sheet I posted on 3/6.

I was actually building looks from subs to other subs for the SM to run, so was not using the touch screens buttons to recall channels and set levels.

The advantage I found to this display was impressive. I could see not what the channel levels were (so old school - and I could, I had the tombstone view open as well)), but more importantly, what the lights were doing - I.W. what was on, about what level, did I miss a channel in the look, etc... 

This is a very similar system to Virtual Magic Sheet - the West Side Systems software used by Richard Pilbrow among others. 

Going to be a time saver, me thinks.


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## Tex (Mar 11, 2013)

I just got on board and downloaded the Beta. Going to school to play later. This is how I have fun during spring break.


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## derekleffew (Mar 14, 2013)

From http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/news/31576-eos-v2-0-a.html :

SteveB said:


> For anyone using Eos family, ETC released today: Eos series 2.0 console update.zip.
> 
> As well, the Off-line/Client software for PC.zip, for Mac.zip is out, as is the v2.0 manual.pdf.
> 
> Plus there's a Shortcuts pdf which lists lot of the Shift functions: 2.0 Facepanel Shortcuts for Eos Family (Eos, Gio, Ion) - Electronic Theatre Controls .


.


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