Version 1.9.8.x Change Notes

MagicQ now supports the 10Scene Contact. MagicQ will detect the 10Scene Contact similar to a 10Scene Wall Plate when Setup, Ports, 10Scene is anything other than "None".

10Scene Contacts can be managed in the Macro Window, in VIEW AUTOM, View 10SCENE in a similar way to 10Scene Wall Plates. The ID of the 10Scene Contact is set in the same way as the 10Scene Wall Plate.

The 10Scene Contact can be used in two ways - either as a ten input Contact input for use in MagicQ Automations, or as a replacement for the 10Scene Wall Plate with custom push buttons using all the standard 10Scene actions.

In MagicQ Automation insert Remote Automations to make use of the Contacts. P2 should be set to the ID of the 10Scene Contact. P3 is 1 to 10 for the ten inputs.

To use the 10Scene Contact to control the normal 10Scenes set the "10Scene Contact as 10Scene" option to "Yes". If this option is set to "No" then the 10Scene Contact can only be used in Automations. The Automations can be used regardless of this setting.

When changing the size of a Group Grid ensure any linked Groups get updated.

When removing Heads from a Group ensure the Heads are removed from the associated Group Grid also.

When adding Heads to a Group then add the new Heads into the Group Grid. The Grid is expanded and the new Heads are added below any existing Heads. Existing Heads are not moved.

The One Shot options have been expanded to "No", "One Shot", "Two Shot", "Three Shot" and "Four Shot". This enables up to 4 repeats of a One Shot. #0036008, #0039504

The One Shot has been improved so that Cues that have one shot FX in them will continue "fading" until the one shot is complete, enabling Cue Stacks to follow once the One Shot is done. #0027210

If the next Cue is set to "Follow" then the follow occurs after the one shot is complete. Previously the "Follow" would occur as soon as all Cue values had faded, ignoring any FX.

If the Cue Stack it set to Release after last step then this will now only occur after the One Shot is complete.

The Dim Ramp Down FX has been modified to make it work correctly as a One Shot. Note that to update this FX in an existing show file, open the FX Editor Window, choose the FX and press RELOAD FX.

Backward FX have been modified to play the FX fully backwards from the last selected head to the first selected head - e.g. a RGB effect now plays Red first from the left when doing forward and red first from the right when doing backward. Previously it would do blue first from the right.

Normal FX in old shows that are set to Backward will continue to play the same way until the FX is edited/changed. Group FX set to Backward will automatically change to the new method.

The Direction of Normal FX has been improved to support the following new Directions: #0023714

The Direction indicates where the FX starts from.

The Bounce FX can be used together with One Shot. A One Shot will execute the whole of the FX cycle including the Bounce part and then stop.

Bounce FX operate by playing a complete cycle of each FX in each direction in turn. When using FX with large Widths since the FX cycle completes before starting the reverse cycle the look of the FX will be different at each of the ends of the cycle to that in the middle of the cycle.

The selection of Chunks with FX has been improved. In the Prog, View FX and Cue, View FX the Chunks can now be controlled by the F Encoder (Segments) rather than on Parts. Use SHIFT + encoder F to select Chunks rather than Segments.

Chunks can be set directly into the spreadsheet view by entering a number of chunks preceded by a dot in the Segments field. For example to set 2 chunks enter .2 in the field. Once Chunks have been set in the field then changes to the number of Chunks can be made purely by entering the number. To revert to Segments enter 0 and then enter the required number of Segments.

Chunks can also be set directly on Soft button F by pressing SET and entering a number preceded by dot.

Shows programmed using Chunks on FX on previous versions (1.9.7.0 to 1.9.7.2) will be converted when they are loaded so that the FX use the Chunks from the Segments rather than the Parts.

A new FX Xfade Delay has been added to the FX engine. This is useful to set an offset between attributes such as Position and Colour. It is set in a new FX Fade Delay field in the Prog, View FX and Cue, View FX windows.

The XFade Delay takes effect when Xfade is set to less than 100% to determine when the Xfade starts. Previously the Xfade would always occur at the end of the step - a delay was inserted before the Xfade.

If the Xfade Delay field is set to 0% then the Xfade starts immediately at the start of the step. If it is set to 100% then it occurs at the latest possible time in the step - this will depend upon the Xfade field itself. For example if Xfade is set to 20% then the maximum Xfade Delay is 80%. The XFade Delay affects all channels that have a Xfade of less than 100%.

A new Posdimcol FX has been added in the Pos category. This FX uses two Position palettes and two Colour Palettes.

The intensity will go to 100% in the first Position and Colour Palette selected and then crossfade to the second Position and Colour Palette before going to 0% intensity.

The timing of the Colour palette change can be modified by setting the Xfade for the colour channels to a value less than 100%, and then adjusting the Xfade Delay value for the FX. Note that the Xfade for the Intensity and Position should remain at 100%.

For example, setting the Colour channels to 20% Xfade and setting a Xfade Delay of 0% will show the first colour briefly at the start of the FX. Setting the Colour channels to 20% Xfade and setting the Xfade Delay to 80% will show the first colour for most of the time and only change to the second colour for the last 20%.

Speed Masters can now be assigned as a fader directly from the Assign Special, Speed Master options.

MagicQ now supports NDI for input into the system for use in the MagicQ Pixel Mapper and Simple Pixel FX. NDI feeds can also be monitored in the Media and Execute Windows - enabling previewing of cameras and other broadcast feeds. NDI® is a registered trademark of Vizrt NDI AB. https://ndi.video/

NDI streams are configured as a Media Server with a Live Preview, in a similar way to CITP feeds. In SETUP, VIEW SYSTEM, Media, choose an unused server and select the Server type of NDI. Then double-click on the IP address field to select the source NDI stream. A low resolution stream will be created by default to minimite network usage. You can switch from "Low Res" to "High Res" to receive the full resolution that the NDI source is sending.

Once connected, the Connect field for the NDI stream will indicate "Receiving" together with the received frame size.

NDI streams can be named in the same way as any other Media Server.

NDI and CITP Live Feed are available on consoles, and on MagicQ PC systems with full unlock.

MagicQ Stadium consoles and MagicQ PC systems with a Stadium Connect support multiple NDI feeds. Compact consoles and MagicQ PC systems without a Stadium Connect only support a single NDI feed - the first Media Server set as NDI with Live Previews enabled.

NDI streams can consume a lot of network bandwidth and may impact lighting protocols such as Art-Net and sACN. It is recommended to use the "Low Res" option and to configure the source to send a frame rate of 25fps or 30fps.

NDI streams can be received on the Control network port as well as on the lighting network ports on MagicQ consoles. NDI input is not affected by the Control Port Firewall since this blocks incoming connections; the connection to the NDI server is initiated by the MagicQ console itself.

NDI sources must be on the same network and IP subnet as the console. If MagicQ is not discovering the NDI source,you can manually add the IP address of the NDI sender in SETUP, VIEW SETTINGS, Network, NDI extra seach IPs, then try selecting the source again in the media setup window.

There is now a Remote Control Full option when selecting remote control of another MagicQ system.

Remote Control Full operates by fully synchronising show data, programmer data and playback data between the controlling MagicQ system and the controlled MagicQ system. This is different to the previous remote control which synchronised the viewed GUI data only.

With Remote Control Full all of the MagicQ windows including the Colour Picker, Plot View, Curve Editor, Timeline and Visualiser are available on the remote controlling system. On previous Remote Control only the simple items select and spreadsheet views were available.

With Remote Control Full the graphics are independent on the Controlling and Controlled console so it does not matter if they have different resolutions.

When going into Remote Control Full the controlling MagicQ stops running and outputting its current show and loads the full show from the controlled MagicQ system. Whilst in Remote Control Full the controlling MagicQ does not output any DMX direct or via network. When exiting Remote Control Full the Controlling MagicQ reloads the show it was running previously and resumes outputting on any enabled Universes as normal.

Note that when in Remote Control Full, it is not possible to change the console settings of the remote Console - only show settings can be changed.

Note that both the Controlling and Controlled system must be v1.9.8.0 or higher for Remote Control Full to be used.

Playback Sync in Net Sessions is no longer carried over ChamSys Remote Ethernet Protocol. This enables ChamSys Remote Ethernet Protocol and Net Sessions to operate independently of each other.

The Multi Console settings in Setup have been simplified to remove the old Show Sync options and Playback Sync settings that predated Net Sessions. The Archiver and Graber Show Sync options remain, but multi console operation must now be done using Net Sessions.

A new GDTF import has been implemented to conform to the GDTF DIN SPEC 15800:2022-02 standard, with improvements to the mapping of Attributes, Ranges, Elements, Emitters, Framing, Functions, Colour Palettes (Presets) and Macros. (Note: The new import does not support Gobo Presets or Media Server).

When importing a GDTF file a dialog is now shown to give the option of using the new import "Current" which is the default option. Alternatively the "Legacy" option can be used for the previous GDTF import method as used in older versions of the software. If there is already a ChamSys head for the fixture/mode being imported, the user is notified and can choose to use the existing head, or to continue importing the GDTF.

It is now possible to set channels in the Patch to have up to 5 seconds of damping. This can be useful when controlling large loads such as 20K tungsten TV/Film fixtures. #0040472

In Patch, View Chans set the damping between 0 and 5 seconds in 0.33 second intervals. Damping can be applied to any channel - which can be used for Intensity or any other attribute.

The damping is applied at the Patch level so will not be visible in the Outputs, View Heads or View Chans view. It can be viewed in Outputs, View Chans, View DMX. It can also be viewed in the Output field in Patch, View Chans.

The Fan options have been enhanced to support Chunks as well as Parts and Segments. Chunks can be used in fanning of attributes and fanning of fade times.

Fan Chunks are particularly useful in Group Cues - they enable Groups always to be split into set number of chunks for fans and fade times regardless of the number of Heads in the Group.

Cue Stack variables can now have a fixed value added or subtracted from them using the Cue Stack macros

VA 4 / <Variable> / <Value to add>

VA 5 / <Variable> / <Value to subtract>

VA 14 / <Playback No> / <Variable> / <Value to add>

VA 15 / <Playback No> / <Variable> / <Value to subtract>

VA 24 / <Cue Stack id> / <Variable> / <Value to add>

VA 25 / <Cue Stack id> / <Variable> / <Value to subtract>

A new Cue Stack Variable has been added to enable executing different logic depending on which Execute Grid it was activated from. This Cue Stack variable can be set, cleared, increased and decreased as per the other Cue Stack variables. It can also be used in Cue Stack macros and in conditional jumps.

Variable 1003 is the Exec Grid ID used to activate the Cue Stack. If the Cue Stack is activated from a normal playback then the Exec Grid ID will be 0.

A new Cue Stack macro has been added to enable automated configuration of the Copy Universe field in Setup, VIEW DMX I/O.

H 7 / <Universe> / <Copy from Universe>

Setting <Copy from Universe> to 0 will clear the copy.

When using Multiple Groups in Regions it is now possible to select more than one Group at a time. This avoids needing to create Groups of combinations of Groups.

If the Setup option, Prog, Select multiple groups is set to No then only a single Group can be active except for when SHIFT is pressed. When set to anything other than No, or when SHIFT is pressed, Groups toggle on/off.

The operation of the inbuilt FX in Execute regions has now been improved when multiple Groups are in a Region - previously it did not always indicate the correct status.

MagicQ now supports Groups and Palettes in the Execute Window being updated to have the contents of Groups from the Group Window or Palettes from the Int, Pos, Col, Beam Window - thus enabling Groups and Palettes imported from another show file to be updated from the Groups and Palettes in the house show file. This is only applicable to Groups and Palettes that are not in a Region. Simply copy from the source Window to the existing Execute Window item.

It is also possible to directly record over Groups and Palettes in the Execute Window. This re-records the underlying Group or Palette.

Copy of Groups and Palettes into free items in the Execute Window is supported as before, as is copying Groups over existing Groups in Regions.

The Steal Palettes function enables automatic updating of Palettes in a Palette window from other Palettes in the Window with the same name or icon.

This enables Groups and Palettes imported from another show file to be updated from the Groups and Palettes in the house show file.

MagicQ searches for a Palette first with the exact name, then with the icon, and finally that have a sub string of the Palette name.

In the Int, Pos, Col or Beam Windows press SHIFT and STEAL PALETTE.

Added support for setting Swap for a Bank of Playbacks rather than all Playbacks. This enables putting a Bank of Playbacks into Swap mode without changing all Playbacks to Swap mode.

Hold the Next Page button of a Bank and press the Prev Page button for the same Bank.

Pressing the Add / Swap button overrides any Banks swapped, causing all Banks to be Swap or Add as normal.

New Assign Special Execute options have been added for:

These have the same effect as setting the Add Swap mode with the Add/Swap button or using the DBO button for DBO or No FX.

Note that as with any other Execute Window items, these items can be triggered from Cue Stacks using the E0 Cue Stack Macro.

The Plot Window can now have background images to assist laying out plots based on a reference image.

Up to 16 different images can be loaded for each of the three main views (plan, front and side). One image can be viewed at a time

The images can be copied into the show/bitmaps folder, and then loaded into MagicQ through PATCH, VIEW VIS, Plot Background Images

Each image can be Scaled, horizontally flipped, Colours inverted, Dimmed, and position and angle set in the patch window.

These settings can also be changed in a new mode in the plot window, PLOT, VIEW BACKGROUND.

Use encoder X (Image ID) to change which image you currently want to view.

To help position and scale the reference images correctly, there is a new Plot setting to "Draw Dimensions Grid". This grid shows a line every 1m and a brighter line every 10m. If you zoom in the grid turns to a line every 10cm and brighter line every 1m.

While in VIEW DESIGN in plot view, typing a number and clicking in the plot view will move the fixture of that head number to that location. If the head is not in the visualiser/plot, but is patched, it will be added to the vis/plot.

In the Group Window, you can now press SHIFT and EDIT HEAD to go to the Head Editor directly for the currently selected Head.

In the Head Editor a new VIEW MODES soft button enables viewing of all the possible modes for a Fixture side by side including the channel listing with elements and coarse/fine indication. Pressing ENTER on a mode chooses that mode ready for Patching.

Note that choosing a mode does not change the mode of any patched heads - it just chooses the new mode ready for patching / morphing / cloning.

The VIEW MODES window can also be accessed directly from the File Manager when choosing a Head.

Added an indicator of number of the boxes cursor selected in the focused Window. Shown on the right hand side of the Status window when a cursor selection is active.

When Importing Palettes from another Show it is now possible to load Palettes even if the Fixture was in a different mode - MagicQ will match attributes.

In the Patch, Swapping of elements End to End now takes precedence over swapping of Pan/Tilt. Previously if a fixture had both Pan and Tilt attributes then swapping of Pan/Tilt would take precedence. This change recognises that many more multi element fixtures now have Pan and Tilt and swapping of Pan/Tilt is rarely used.

When Always Show Record Options is set to show the Toolbars, when pressing Copy then using COPY, COPY shortcut to copy within a Window now closes the Toolbar and performs the Copy as expected. Similar for Include, Include and Record, Record shortcuts. Note that some users using the show Toolbars had found an unintended shortcut by pressing REC REC To choose REC MERGE - this is now supported by an extra option on the Always Show Record Options.

It is now possible to add a Bitmap to a Group in a Region.

Added option to Patch to change the mode of one or more Heads. #0043766

When saving show to USB support the EDIT LAST button in the keyboard dialog.

Group Masters now can be used on Groups with Elements, Head Elements or Function Types.

Move Internal time code options to top of timecode tab in Setup and set flags correctly to show it is a show setting and not a locked function.

When using Temp Group Cue, don’t cancel it when selecting new Groups.

In full screen Execute on MagicQ PC the shortcut CTRL + Q can be used to exit the Execute Window.

Increased the number of Art-Net ports allowed per Art-Net node to 64.

Add Art-Net version field to Art-Net tab in Net Manager.

Add ability to shutdown / reboot using the ChamSys Remote Protocol. Use the 94H command:

<shutdown type> is 1 for normal, 2 for power off, 3 for reboot

When exporting a show with Group Cues enabled if no Heads are selected then the show is exported including all the Group Cue / Group FX information. If Heads / Groups are selected then only the Cues using those Heads / Groups are exported.

Make usage of the Mask when Recording of Layouts more intuitive - always remember the previous used mask and allow recording with no mask.

The Scroll speed in plot view when box selecting has been sped up and varies depending on how close to the edge of the screen you are.

Ensure inbuilt Pixel FX stop when Global NO FX button is pressed.

Rearranging the order of the framing blade attributes for fixtures that support framing blades is easier with a new soft button in the HEAD EDITOR, VIEW CHANS, AUTO FRAME ATTRIB. Head must already have the "Framing Type" option set and have 8 channels set with framing blade attributes.

In the Patch window, Under VIEW VIS and Attach Object, you can type a number before pressing INSERT and it will add that many items. #0044469

In the Timeline window, tracks can be hidden and unhidden. This can help you with lining up macro steps on tracks that are further down the screen with audio, other macro steps on different tracks and cues within the cue stack.

Add support for editing FX Attack in the Prog Window, View FX and Cue Window, View FX spreadsheets. Previously Attack could only be changed via SHIFT and encoder Y.

Live Copy Masters now support copying to/from Heads with VDIMs.

Remove the Old Renderer (OpenGL V2) support from Visualiser.

Added v1.10 firmware for the Compact Wing that fixes an issue where the fader backlight LED’s would intermittently not come on blue on connection to MagicQ.

Fix for reset when adjusting the E and F encoders when in View Elements. #0045942

All the icons for gels in every part of MagicQ show the colour of the gel as it would be with a D65 white source. There is now an option in patch, VIEW VIS to change the source of lights to tungsten. This will only affect the colour in the visualiser. #0040110, #0043822, #0042125

Added extra Console Mode - Compact Playback Levels. On Compact console with Playback Holdover Mode set to Default the Playbacks when changing page the Playbacks do not change level to the level last used. On Stadium consoles the levels are changed and the faders moved to the last level. his option enables shows programmed on Compact consoles with Default Playback Holdover Mode to be run in the same way on Stadium consoles.

Add support for removing old MagicQ installation files on MQ80/MQ500/MQ500M/MQ500M+ consoles from the startup menu.

Add support for exFAT filesystem USB sticks on MQ500M+/MQ250M/MQ70/MQ50 consoles and MagicQ Rack/DIN. #0035974

Add detection of the SD card not being connected on MQ70 consoles.

When importing Shows using the Advanced options allow Show Structure importing.