Hi all,

I have bought these as a package for my but I am wondering if the FC-400 is up to the job.
The color fusions are great on their own with sound activation.
I would like to set up scenes for various songs so that our singer can change the effects with a touch of a footswitch when needed.
The book says that the color fusions are 7 channel and the fc-400 is only 4. I have not got a clue how to program this thing and the instruction manual (from the net) is about as much use as a chocolate fireguard.
Please help if you can.

Dave

If the FC-400 can be programmed to handle 4 channels that aren't together, you're good. A minimum to properly run the color fusions is 4 channels, but those channels are 1, 2, 3 and 5(red, Green, Blue and Dimming respectively).

Strange package to be sold as. The FC-400, if I recall, is more designed for cans with a dimmer pack.

You might be better off going with a console that can be triggered via MIDI and then programming scenes into the controller. That would be a better fit.

I have a pair of the color Fusions. I'm using those for my event this weekend.(Along with other lights).

I have got no idea what the fc-400 can and can't do. I can't find any helpful information on the net. The color fusions seem great.
How would that midi work? There are midi in / out connections on the fc-400. I wish that this footpedal was a bit more user friendly. I have sent an email to Elation, maybe they can offer something.

Thanks for replying

The Fc-400 is not supported by elation. it is on the ADJ website. ill see if i can get one of our tech guys to respond to this post.
Sincerely,

Well, I can't comment on the FC-400, but I recall in past threads that this was designed to be used with the DP-DMX20L and cans.

But, onto MIDI:
Using say a DMX Operator controller, you can program scenes. You can then trigger the scenes via MIDI.

There ya go.

Wow, if the FC-400 doesn't have a manual laying around on the site archives, I'd be shocked.

I don't need too much from it, most of our songs just need sound to light and the color fusions do a great job of this. Between songs I would like a static colour or slow colour changes until we get going with the next one. Halfway thru a Thin lizzy track I would love to get them flashing blue at the press of a footswitch and then back to sound to light.

If I use the built in sound to light for the color fusions then, i presume, anything more elaborate becomes impossible unless using DMX (please correct me if i'm wrong).
Can I hook up a line from the PA to do the sound to light via the FC-400 using DMX. If so is there anything I need to put in the middle so I don't damage the FC-400?
It says there are 12 programmable scenes and 16 built in chase programmes.
If anyone has time, here is a link to the manual :
http://www.americandj.com/pdffiles/FC400.pdf

re section 2.2
If I have scene 1 selected and hold the mode pedal for 3 seconds, should this allow for adjustments to scene 1 red / 2 green / 3 blue / and (from the fusions manual) 4 color mixing.
5 dimming / 6 speed / 7 mode don't seem to be supported by the FC-400 so I won't be able to make it flash.
Holding the button for a further 3 seconds will save this to memory and I can go on to scene 2, have I got this right so far?

Channel 7 controls the 'mode'. address 224 -255 will put the fusions into sound active mode. But, again, 7 is not supported by the FC-400.

Can I make the FC-400 control channel 1, 2 ,3 and 6 (rather than 1,2,3 and 4)?

I am grateful to anyone taking the time to help with this.
Dave

Dave,
I am sorry to say that the FC-400 and the Color Fusions are not compatible with one another. There's no way to change the output channels on the FC-400. It's designed to control a 4 channel dimmer pack, using channels 1-4.

Thanks, I'll talk to the suppliers and see if they can offer something else.

If your footswitch can do MIDI triggering(There are MIDI foot controllers), there's no reason why you can't still do what you want to do. You just need something in the middle, such as a DMX Operator and program the scenes.

The cost might creep up a little bit. Look at it as a long term investment. I've been hauling my DMX Operator around for 7 years and it works great still. I know guys using the same MIDI foot boards for longer than that(don't know the brands or models). Since it's not at throw-away item, it should last you a good long time.

Enjoy and have fun. Programming the DMX Operator is fairly simple. Read the manual, go over it again, then sit in front of the controller WITH the manual and dive in. You'll get it.