6. Managing Axes
Creating axes
Go to the Axes tab in the right panel.
Click New. A new axis appears in the tree.
Select the new axis and edit its properties in the property grid below the tree.
Give the axis a meaningful name such as Pan, Tilt, Left Lift, or Curtain. This name appears in every chart, tree view, and dialog.
To remove an axis, select it and click Delete (or use the context menu). Deleting an axis also removes the matching profile from every show.
Figure 3. The Axes tab. A toolbar of actions sits above the axis tree; the property grid for the selected axis fills the bottom half.
Axis properties
The property grid groups related settings. The most commonly edited ones are:
Property | Meaning |
|---|---|
Name | Display name for this axis. |
Number | Axis index in the project. |
Serial Number | Motor identifier, set automatically when you link a connection. |
Color | Colour used for this axis on every chart. |
Position Decimal Points | How many decimal places to show for position values. |
Status | Live state of the motor — disconnected, connecting, ready, error. |
Position | Current motor position, updated live when connected. |
Maximum Speed | Speed ceiling enforced during playback. |
Maximum Torque | Torque ceiling enforced during playback. |
Position Multiple | Scaling factor between motor encoder counts and your display units. |
Pulses Per Revolution | Motor encoder resolution. |
Analog Position Control | Sensitivity of analog (joystick) position control. |
Caution. Maximum speed and maximum torque are safety ceilings. Lower them when you are still getting comfortable with a new setup, then raise them only after you have tested at reduced limits.
Loading parameters from the motor
If a motor already has parameters dialled in (for example, after being tuned by a technician), you can pull those values into Contours instead of entering them by hand.
Load Motor — reads parameters from the currently selected motor into its axis.
Load All Motors — reads every connected motor in one pass. A progress dialog shows each transfer.
You can cancel a load in progress by clicking Cancel on the Motor Load dialog.
Homing and zeroing
Three buttons on the axis property grid deal with motor position reference:
Go To Zero — drives the motor to its zero position.
Start Home — runs the motor's homing sequence to find a physical reference.
Query Home Parameters — asks the motor for its current homing configuration so you can see or tweak it.