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Quasar Science - Help Center

Lead/Follow Control

Within MANUAL control ONLY, Lead/Follow Mode turns one R2 or RR light into a Lead unit — a wired or wireless Manual Mode controller for any R2 & RR lamps linked as Follow units. Specifically, the Lead unit directly assumes remote color and FX control of its Follow units.

To create dynamic effects across multiple linked units, the Follow feature has selectable slots from 1 to 9. These slots run the same effects, intensities, and levels as the Lead Unit. Follow 1 matches the Lead Unit directly, while Follows 2 through 9 progressively offset effect timings across up to 8 sets of linked units.

Lead_Follow_1.png
Lead_Follow_2.png

To set up Lead/Follow, within the Config Menu, navigate to the Lead/Follow menu and follow these steps:

  1. In the Lead unit R2/RR lamp you’ve chosen to control the Follow units:

    1. Set this mode to “Lead

    2. The Data status LED will turn Green to confirm your light as the Lead unit

    3. Any fixtures connected to the Lead unit over DMX will automatically become Follow 1

  2. In each of your Follow unit R2/RR lamps:

    1. Set this mode to your desired Follow #:

      1. Follow 1 matches the Lead Unit in effect timing.

      2. Follows 2-8 progressively offset effect timing from the lead unit

Caution

Use the same firmware versions across your lights, do not mix & match firmware versions when using special modes. For example, firmware 0.9 is not backwards compatible with earlier firmware when using LEAD/FOLLOW.

For Wired Linking
  1. Connect your Lead unit to the first desired Follow unit in the signal chain using a Cat5 or Cat6 cable. One cable end should go in the Lead Unit’s LAN 2/DMX OUT port, and the other end should go in the Follow Unit’s LAN 1/DMX IN port.

  2. Connect your Follow units together from that first follow unit in similar fashion.

  3. On the Follow units, the Data status LED will turn Cyan to confirm your light as a Follow unit.

Note

When using LEAD/FOLLOW do not send DMX data from other sources at the same time, and only one fixture can be set to LEAD per daisy chain or unexpected behavior will occur.

For Wireless Linking
  1. On the Lead unit & all Follow units, navigate to Wireless Mode in the CONFIG menu tree and set it to Wireless DMX. (Bluetooth is disabled in LEAD/FOLLOW)

  2. If the Wireless status LED flashes on your Follow units, press and hold the Link button to un-pair the Follow unit from searching for a prior Lead Unit or TX Link.

  3. On the Lead unit, tap the Link button to send the pairing signal. The Lead unit Wireless Status LED will start flashing. The Follow unit(s) Wireless Status LED will flash in unison.

  4. On the Follow units, the Data status LED will turn Cyan to confirm your light as a Follow unit

  5. The Wireless status LED on ALL Lead & Follow units will turn Magenta to indicate your units are (Lead) transmitting or (Follow) receiving Wireless Lead/Follow Data.

Your Lead unit's Manual Menu settings will now directly control all linked Follow Units!

Note

CRMX rules apply with Follow fixtures; if you no longer wish to use a fixture in Follow mode remember to UNLINK the Follow fixture from the Lead fixture; otherwise it will continue to listen to the Lead fixture’s CRMX radio link.

Note

Starting with firmware 0.7, when you set your Leader to control via Wireless DMX any light that was already linked will now automatically be set as a Follower.