Why does my architectural system lose control of my lights when my backup console takes over
Symptoms
I have a multiconsole system (e.g. an EosTi Primary and a Puck Backup) to control my stage lights and house lights. My architectural system (e.g. Paradigm) only controls my house lights.
When the Primary is in control, I have control of my house lights from either the consoles or the architectural system with normal Highest Takes Precedence (HTP) behavior. However, when I turn the Primary console off, the Backup takes over and I lose control of my house lights from the architectural system.
If I unpatch my house lights from my console system, the architectural system retains control when the Backup takes over.
Explanation
This situation is likely due to an sACN priority mismatch within your networked system.
sACN operates on a priority system of 0 - 200, with 200 being the highest priority, and 100 being the default. In the system described above, usually the consoles and architectural system use the default sACN priority of 100, which means the lights will use whichever control source is sending a higher level.
Eos consoles have an option in Shell > Settings > Network labeled "Backup takes over at higher priority." This setting, if checked on the Backup console, means that when the backup takes over, the Backup's sACN priority automatically increases by 1 to priority 101. That higher priority overrides any sources of control at sACN priority 100 or lower (Paradigm).
Solution
- Exit to the Eos shell/Welcome Screen on the Backup console and go into Settings.
- Go to the Network tab, then scroll down to the section labeled "Output Protocols."
- Uncheck the box labeled "Backup takes over at higher priority."
- Hit Accept at the bottom, and log back in as Backup as normal.
When the backup takes over, its sACN priority will now remain at 100, and the HTP behavior between the console and the architectural system will persist.