Light Cue Hardware and Software Reference Manual
Every effort has been made to assure the accuracy of the information contained in this manual, and the reliability of the Alcorn McBride Light Cue. Errors can sometimes go undetected, however. If you find one, please bring it to our attention so that we can correct it for others. Alcorn McBride welcomes comments and suggestions on the content and layout of its documentation. Applications described herein are for illustrative purposes only. Alcorn McBride Inc.
Table of Contents Welcome 5 Features 5 Getting Started 6 Connecting the Unit Storage Media Recording Playback Show Controller Connection 6 6 7 8 8 Front Panel Controls and Indicators 9 < > Buttons Record Button Play Button Stop Button Cue 1, Cue 2, Cue 3 Buttons LED Indicators LCD Display 9 9 10 10 10 10 11 Rear Panel Controls and Connectors 12 Voltage / Contact Closure Select Switch Power RS-232C Controller Input DMX Input DMX Output SMPTE Input 12 12 13 14 14 14 Parallel Control 15 Paral
Welcome Thanks for purchasing The Alcorn McBride Light Cue™. The Light Cue is intended to replace SMPTE-controlled lighting consoles in permanent show installations, eliminating the need to use an expensive lighting console to run your lighting. The Light Cue records and plays back DMX-512 data. Either one stream (or cue as it is called in this manual) synchronized to SMPTE timecode can be played back, or up to six cues not synchronized with SMPTE can be simultaneously “piled-on”.
Getting Started This section will teach you how to begin using your Light Cue. More detailed information is contained in the rest of this manual. Connecting the Unit Note: SMPTE is only required if it is necessary to synchronize lighting cues to other SMPTE equipment. 1. Connect the DMX Out from your Lighting Console to the DMX In on the rear of the Light Cue. 2. Connect the DMX Out from the Light Cue to the DMX Input of your Dimmer Rack. 3.
Recording Not:e The Lightcue can only playback one cue at a time which has been recorded with SMPTE. The Pile-on feature is useable only with cues which are not locked to SMPTE. The Lightcue is capable of recording DMX data with or without being locked to SMPTE timecode.
Playback 1. Select the cue to be played by pressing the < and > keys. 2. Begin playback of SMPTE if synchronization is required. 3. Press the Play button to begin playback. 4. Press the Stop button to end playback. Show Controller Connection Page 8 1. Connect the output port on your Show Controller (e.g. Alcorn McBride V16, V4) to the Controller Input on the rear of the Light Cue. 2. Use the Controller Software (e.g. WinScript) to configure and operate the Light Cue.
Front Panel Controls and Indicators The Light Cue provides controls that can accommodate a wide variety of installations. The front panel incorporates a row of eight pushbuttons that control the operation of the unit, two indicator lights, an LCD display, and a PCMCIA slot. < > Buttons The < and > buttons select the cue number to be played, recorded to, or deleted. Pressing the > button increments the cue number, while pressing the < button decrements the current cue number.
Play Button The Play button outputs DMX-512 data when pressed. Data is output starting from the first DMX packet of the currently-selected cue. For unsynchronized playback, no active SMPTE timecode input is required. Stop Button Note: After recording, it may take up to 10 seconds after Stop is pressed for the Light Cue to write the directory to the media. This is normal and the LCD readout indicates when this operation is complete.
L (red) Note: When SMPTE is lost, the unit selfgenerates SMPTE for 5 seconds and then stops. DMX data will continue to be output, however it will no longer be locked to SMPTE. If SMPTE is restored, it will take one second for the unit to lock up to SMPTE again. This LED is red whenever the Light Cue is locked to incoming SMPTE. LCD Display The LCD Display will indicate which cue is playing. It will also provide status updates on the operation of the Light Cue.
Rear Panel Controls and Connectors The rear panel provides the DMX input and output connectors, a SMPTE In connector, an RS-232 control port, a Parallel input/output port, a selector switch for input options, and the power connector. Voltage / Contact Closure Select Switch This switch, located on the rear of the unit next to the DB-37 Control Connector selects between voltage inputs or contact closures for the discrete controls.
RS-232C Controller Input This input is a standard DB-9 male RS-232C connector, intended to be connected to an Alcorn McBride V16/V4 or other controller using a straight-through (not null-modem) 9-pin cable. The pinout appears below. Pin Function No .
DMX Input The DMX input is a standard 5-pin XLR male connector. The pinout appears below: Pin No. Function 1 Shield 2 - (low) 3 + (high) 4 not used 5 not used DMX Output The DMX output is a standard 5-pin XLR female connector. The pinout appears below. Pin No . Function 1 Shield 2 - (low) 3 + (high) 4 not used 5 not used SMPTE Input The SMPTE input is a standard 3-pin XLR female connector. Input signal level range is -10 dbu to +4 dbu. Impedance is 600 ohms.
Parallel Control Parallel Inputs Be sure to configure the slide switch before connecting any wires. The Light Cue can be controlled using either contact closures or voltage inputs on the female DB-37 Control Connector. Up to 16 individual cues can be selected and played, looped, paused, or stopped. A switch located on the side of the unit next to the connector selects between the two input types (Voltage Inputs, Contact Closures). Voltage inputs are rated for 24 VDC.
Cue Select 3 Cue Cue Select Selec 2 t1 Cue Select 0 Cue Off 1 Off Off Off Off Off Off On 2 Off Off On Off 3 Off Off On On 4 Off On Off Off 5 Off On Off On 6 Off On On Off 7 Off On On On 8 On Off Off Off 9 On Off Off On 10 On Off On Off 11 On Off On On 12 On On Off Off 13 On On Off On 14 On On On Off 15 On On On On 16 For example, connecting pins 5 and 24 together with the slide switch set in the contact closure position will
Parallel Outputs Two status outputs are provided. They are dry contact closures rated at 24 VDC and 1 amp max. Their function is described below. Function Pin No’s. Description Playing 9,28 Closed when the unit is outputting DMX data. Fault 10,29 Closed when the unit detects a PCMCIA media error or CPU failure.
File Management The Light Cue is able to record up to 511 separate DMX sequences. These sequences, or cues, are stored in DOS files in the PCMCIA media. The files can be backed up on any IBM or compatible PC equipped with a PCMCIA socket. Some editing operations, described below, are available by using the Light Cue alone. (Please refer to DOS Compatibility section on next page for more information) Editing Cues Note: Menu choices are selected sequentially by pressing the < or > keys.
Formatting Media Note: The LED indicator will illuminate Green during the formatting process. 1. Before you begin recording to media which has previously not been used it is a good idea to format it. 2. Press and hold the Record button and then press the Stop button. The unit will display a message asking you if you want to edit a cue (see Editing Cues) . Press and hold down the Play buttton for at least 2 seconds. The unit will begin formating the media.
Cue Management Software A simple DOS program, CUETOOL.EXE is included on a floppy disk with your Lightcue. This program allows you to convert files recorded on the LightCue to files which can be loaded into a spreadsheet program. The DMX data can then easily be examined, graphed, and edited. CUETOOL.EXE can also convert the spreadsheet-formatted data back into a LightCue-compatible file format so you can playback the edited cue in the LightCue. Refer to the README.
Simple Serial Control The Light Cue may be controlled using serial RS-232 messages via the rear DB-9 Control Connector or the DB-37 Control Connector. The data format is 9600,N,8,1: 9600 baud, no parity, 8 bits/byte, with one stop bit. The protocol is ASCII-based, and many commands are identical to Pioneer Disc protocol. Upper or lower case characters can be used interchangeably.
Select Cue Description: This command causes the Light Cue to select the specified cue number for play. Once this command is sent, the next Play command causes the specified cue to play from the beginning of the file. The unit defaults to cue #1 at power-up. Command Bytes: nSE or nnSE or nnnSE where n, nn, or nnn is the cue number in ASCII. R Message Response: Comments: This is similar to the “Search to Address” command in chapter addressing mode used in Pioneer Laser Disc protocol.
Loop Play Description: This command causes the Light Cue to play the cue specified by the Select Cue command and loop back to the first look and continue playing when the end of the cue is reached. Bytes are included for crossfade time from the current look to the first look of the selected cue. The crossfade time specified will override any that had been selected during recording of the cue. Command bytes: hhmmssffLP where hhmmssff is the crossfade time in hours, minutes, seconds, and frames.
Chase Play Description: This command causes the Light Cue to play the cue specified by the Select Cue command starting at the SMPTE time (offset) specified and “jam-syncing" (following incoming timecode forward or backwards) from that point in time. The crossfade and SMPTE starting time specified overrides any that had been selected during recording of the cue. Command bytes: ohomosofhhmmssffCP where ohomosof is the starting SMPTE time (offset) of hours, minutes, seconds, and frames.
Pile-On Cue Description: This command causes the Light Cue to play a cue simultaneously with other cues currently playing, like a lighting console would do when it does a “pile-on” of cues. Up to 6 cues may be piled-on at one time. Each of the 512 channel values of each cue that is playing is compared against the corresponding channel in the other playing cues, and the highest value is output. Command bytes: nPO or nnPO or nnnPO where n, nn, or nnn is the cue number in ASCII.
Clear Cue Description: This command causes the Light Cue to clear a cue which is currently being piled-on. The cue will be taken out of the comparison. Command bytes: nCL or nnCL or nnnCL where n, nn, or nnn is the cue number in ASCII.
Force Value Description: This command will force a DMX channel to specified value. Command bytes: cccvvvFV where ccc is the ASCII representation of the channel number 000 to 511. where vvv is the ASCII representation of the channel value 000 to 255. Message Response: R Example: "255128FV" forces channel 255 to value 128 SMPTE Status Description: This command causes the Light Cue to respond with the current status of the SMPTE interface.
Reset Description: This command causes the Lightcue to stop the playback of all active cues and hold the current look. Command bytes: RJ Media Types & Capacities The Light Cue uses PCMCIA (commonly called PC Card) media or Compact Flash in a PCMCIA adaptor The following table lists the capacities of PC Card media based on 30 frames per second of DMX data. As the table indicates, the ratio is approximately 1 minute of DMX per megabyte of media space.
Specifications DMX Input: Male 5-Pin XLR Output: Female 5-Pin XLR Signal: Fully DMX-512/1990 Compliant Recorded Channels: 512 Playback Time: 20 Min.
Physical Page 30 Power: 115 or 220 VAC, 50/60 Hz, 30 watts or 9.0 VDC, 1A Max UL, CSA, CE Class 2 Supply Provided Size and Weight: 19" W x 1.75" H x 6" D, 8 lbs.
Index C Chase Play, 21, 23, 24 Clear Cue, 26 Contact Closure, 13–14, 16, 17 crossfade, 5, 22–24 Cue Select, 16 D DMX-512, 5, 11, 28 F Feedthrough, 26 L LCD Display, 10, 12, 28 LED indicators, 11 Loop Play, 21, 23 O offset, 5, 24 P Parallel, 13, 16–18, 28 Parallel Outputs, 18 PCMCIA, 5–10, 19, 28 Pile-On Cue, 25 Pile-On Cue and Loop at end, 25 Play, 16 protocol, 21 R Record, 10, 19, 24, 28 RS-232, 5–10, 21 S Select Cue, 21–23 Serial Control, 21 SMPTE, 5–12, 15, 21–28 Still, 21, 23–28 Stop, 16, 28 Alc
