Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Hi -

I have 3 Einsteins, and CyberCommander.

In the midst of all my messing around, the modeling lights are all over the place relative to flash output. After taking some time to read the manual, I've figured out that I can push the modeling lamps up and down in proportion by selecting all, so that I can get bright modeling lights for preview.

I want the modeling lights to always track with flash output - how do I get there? I'm thinking that if I reset them on the lights themselves, the cybercommander will overwrite that.

Thoughts?

Mike

Just set MODEL MODE to TRACK in the LIGHT SETTINGS menu. Any changes you make on the flash itself will be over-ridden by the CC.

To remove a model lamp offset I think you would just turn all flashes to full power and all modeling lamps to full power (on the CC - not on the flashes themselves.) Then readjust your flashes to actual desired power and the modeling lamps should track just right.

In a nutshell, yes. However, there is a little more to that.

First, all lights must be set to track via the CC. If you choose to use "ALL" and make your selections apply to all lights simultaneously, I recommend switching ALL channels to ADJ, then back to track. The ALL channel can only display one setting, however, not all lights are necessarily on that setting. By going to a different setting (ADJ), ALL lights will go to that setting, then when you switch back to TRACK, ALL lights will go from ADJ to TRACK. If you know all lights are already in TRACK, you can ignore this part.

Second, the offset you have discovered is maintained to the best abilities of the Cyber Commander until it is undone manually. Let's say you have your model lamps in TRACK, and set to max power. However, your flash is at -4f. If you decrease your flash by 1f, your model lamp will drop by 1f as well. If you then increase the flash by 1f, both flash and model lamp will increase by 1f, back to where we started. If you increase the flash again by 1f, the model lamp has nowhere to go, so the offset is "compressed". If you move the flash back down one stop, the model lamp will not move, as it is trying to maintain that 4f offset.

To undo an offset, you can go to the model screen and decrease or increase your model lamp power until the relative power matches that of the flash (look to the far right of the horizontal red bar near the top. It should match the number above it). If your flashes are at full power, decrease your model lamps until you see them move, then move them back up. You can have an 8f offset, but if the flash is at full power, the red bar will also show at full power, making the offset indistinguishable.

Exactly the info I needed. Thanks!

First before you start messing around, I recommend that you have all your lights set up the way you want them. Then save it on your SD card. This will be your "bread crumbs" back to were you started. ;)

RMS