elektraLite CP100xt Manual Part One - Manual (Page 58)

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BEST WAY TO LEARN
The absolute best way to learn and use the User Library is to read the Quick Guide section following
and then to print out the Standard library file (stndlib.txt). If you know how a particular fixture already
works in the CP-100, then looking at the way it was ‘constructed’ in the standard library entry will
help you to understand how to create your own User Library entry for a new fixture or to modify an
existing fixture.
The way in which the CP-100 looks at the two library files (userlib.txt & stndlib.txt) is very simple.
First, it loads in the Standard library. Then it looks for the user library. In the user library it looks for
new fixtures and also any fixture that was in the Standard library that may have been changed by you
to work a different way. There is no restriction on the number of fixtures or number of changes you
want to make. Once it has loaded the files, you’re ready to go to work.
Finally, read the section “issues you should know about” at the end of this chapter. This is definitely a
must as well.
QUICK GUIDE.
WARNING: The following parts of this section have the potential to be very intimidating to most
people because they deal with a computer subject matter. This Quick Guide is intended for immature
audiences. Those with a weak heart, nominal computer experience, or very little patience for techno-
babble are encouraged to work with this section before moving on. Very few of us in the lighting
industry ever intended to need a degree in computer programming just to make some lights wiggle the
way we need them to. On that note let’s just make a very simple fixture without all the bells and
whistles.
We’re gonna create a basic wiggle light fixture so that the features of the light are displayed on our
LCD screen, the color and gobos can be accessed by the Color & Gobo buttons and the dimmer will
be controlled by the Grand Master. In many cases that’s all we really need anyway.
For the purposes of this exercise I’m going to assume that you are working on a Windows based
computer with Microsoft Notepad software. If you are not sure if you have Microsoft Notepad don’t
worry! It’s part of Windows and will definitely be there so long as you haven’t been snooping around
your hard drive deleting files at random. If you’ve been doing that then you’re a very naughty person!
However, if you don’t have Notepad, then any text editor that is capable of reading IBM formatted
disks can be used.
The easiest way to learn how to work the UDF software is to create a ‘new’ fixture. So, we’re going to
create a fixture called a Trackspot made by a manufacturer called High End Test.