Personality Builder: A Quick Start Guide
This guide has been created to enable you to create a functional personality file for Diamond 4 and Titan as quickly as possible. Further detail, videos and support can be found on the Avolites forum.
Getting Started - Naming your Fixture:
After opening the program, select New from the File menu:
Select Fixture 1 in the Navigation Pane. In the Properties Pane there will now be a list of fields. i. Enter a Manufacturer name in the Manufacturer field. ii. Enter the fixtures name in the Name field iii. Enter a name in the Display Name field. (The Display Name field has a maximum length of 10 Characters).

Attribute Pane

Navigation Pane

Properties Pane

Hint: Creating your own unique Manufacturer name for all your created fixtures will ensure they all appear under the same Manufacturer name in your consoles patch menu.

Adding Attributes:

Now that the fixture information has been added we can start to add attributes to our fixture: 1. Select the Attributes item in the Navigation Pane. A list of possible attributes that can be added to the fixture will be displayed in the Attribute Pane. 2. Find the attributes you need in this pane and double click them to add them to the fixture (alternatively they can be dragged across from the Attribute Pane to the Properties Pane).
3. Select the correct Maximum Resolution for each attribute. To do this select the attribute name in the Navigation Pane and change the Maximum Resolution to the appropriate level by selecting it from the drop down box.
Adding Functions to Attributes:
1. Now add the appropriate functions for each attribute from the Attribute Pane by dragging them across to the Navigation Pane. 2. Once all the functions have been added, you can add their DMX Values by selecting the DMX Values tab at the bottom of the Properties Pane and entering the values for each function listed. 3. To return to the Properties Pane, select the Properties tab to the left of the DMX Values tab.
4. Ensure that all created attributes have functions and the relevant DMX information added to them.

Setting Locate Values:

Expand an attribute from the Properties Pane so that all the functions it contains are visible. Right click on the function that you wish set as the locate value, select Locate, then (in the case of an attribute range, such as Speed) select a locate value.

Creating Modes:

1. Select Modes from the Navigation Pane. 2. Choose a mode template from the Attribute Pane and double click it to add it to the list of Modes. 1 2
From here you are able to add any combination of created attributes to this mode by first selecting the relevant mode, then dragging the created attributes across from the Attribute Pane.
You now need to assign the DMX channels for each of your created modes:
1. Select the appropriate mode in the Navigation Pane. 2. Click on the Channels tab at the bottom of the Properties Pane. 3. While this page is filled in automatically, you may need to edit the order of DMX channel assignments listed in the Channel Offs column.
Hint: When you have both 16 bit and 8 bit channels performing the same functions on two different modes (most commonly Pan and Tilt) you should the set the attribute resolution to 16 bit and add it to both modes. Then for the 8 bit mode, you then select the attribute inside that mode and change the Resolution from 16 bit to 8 bit in the Attribute Pane.
Configuring Wheel Allocation:
Once the channels for all modes have been assigned you must allocate a separate wheel for every attribute. 1. Select the appropriate mode in the Navigation Pane. 2. Select the Wheel Mapping tab from the Properties Pane. In this tab click on the Filter by Mode box. This ensures that only the channels used by this mode are displayed. Where two modes use the same attributes, changing the attribute position in one will change the attribute position in the second mode. 3. Move the attributes to whichever wheel you want them to appear on by clicking on the attribute name, and dragging to the appropriate wheel. 4. If there are 2 or more functions on the same wheel, the names will turn into a Magenta colour. You need to ensure that the two attributes are put on separate wheels for the personality file to function correctly.
Hint: To put an attribute on the second page of a wheel, drag it into the Unassigned box, select the desired page then drag the unassigned attribute to the desired wheel.
Adding to your consoles Fixture Library:
If you havent done so already, save your personality file. It is a good idea to name your file using the following format: Manufacturer Name_Fixture Name.d4. The completed personality now needs to be copied to your console via USB memory stick. Insert the USB stick in to your console. Copy the personality to C:\Program Files\Avolites\Titan\FixtureLibrary Restart the console software for the changes to take effect. If any previous versions of your file are patched, your show will have to be updated via the Update Personality function new to Titan V3.

Hint: If you are running Personality Builder from your console, select File then Save to Fixture Library. This should only be done once the personality has been completed in order to prevent work-in-progress files from appearing in your patch menu.

Azure/Pearl/Sapphire 2000 Cache Builder This application creates subsets of personality files from the files available, making patching faster and easier. Although we have made the CacheBuilder as easy as possible to use, you should have a basic understanding of copying files and renaming them within Windows. Explanation of the Personality file formats used in 2000 series consoles The 2000 series consoles can use one of three personality file types: ~ the fully expanded individual fixture file, this will have the extension.r20, ~ a compressed file on disk, which will have the file name aps.cmp, ~ a compressed file which has been loaded into the console, the source file being named p2000per.cmp.r20 format The number of.r20 files on a floppy disk is limited to the capacity of the disk, typically 200 or so. You can have as many disks as you wish with different.r20 files on them. P2000per.cmp format The p2000per.cmp file currently has a default capacity of about 50 fixtures. The exact number is dependant on the complexity of the fixtures selected. The capacity can also be extended by leaving out certain pieces of information such as Preset Focuses and Range Tables, potentially allowing around 350 fixtures to be compressed into the internal cache. More details about this are available section 3b below. Aps.cmp format The aps.cmp file is only limited to the floppy disk size. However, there is also a limit of 1000 fixtures which cannot be exceeded in any desk.
Providing the aps.cmp file is within the size limits of the disk, and contains no more than 1000 personalities, it can be created by renaming the p2000per.cmp file to aps.cmp. You can use this to test the file before storing it in the console or on a permanent basis. This might be useful if you are not the owner of the console but wish to have your own configuration whenever you use an Avolites 2000 console.
New fixtures are frequently added to our database, and whenever we find an improvement we can make to a fixture file this is placed on our web as a free download. Please therefore visit our web site on a regular basis to check for updates and download these before creating any files. A download containing all.r20 files in one directory is provided entitled R20 files for Cachebuilder, which contains all the latest personalities available at any point in time. (www.avolitesdownload.com/Personality Library/default.asp)
Editing files The compressed files cannot be edited, however the individual fixture.r20 files can be edited to have your own preferences included, and a standard windows application like Notepad can be used for this.
File Size The maximum size for installed files is Azure Pearl Sapphire 91 KBytes 96 KBytes 96 KBytes
When you use the CacheMaker application you will be warned if the file size exceeds this. If it does you must remove some fixtures and try again. If your file is to be used on a disk as an aps.cmp file, then there is no limit to the file size. Detailed instructions: The CacheBuilder application uses standard Windows operations and is generally intuitive to use. Instructions: 1. Downloading 2. Installation 3. Usage a) Deploying the Cache Builder. b) Controls c) Results 4. Using the cache file a) Loading b) Using 5. Fixture Personality Database Management a) How to create one. b) Usage. 1. Downloading: The application can be downloaded from http://www.avolitesdownload.com/ Go to Cache Builder on the menu, and scroll down until you find a download titled CacheBuilderv1.5.msi. Click on the link for this file, and save it to your computer, remembering which directory you chose. 2. Installation: Click on the downloaded file and follow the on screen instructions. Please note that Windows installer 2.0 is required. This will be installed first, and if needed you will be required to reboot and run the Cache Builder installation a second time.
3. Usage: a) Deploying the Cache Builder Press Start > Programs > Avolites > Cache Builder > Cache Builder b) Controls The Current Directory is where the database of Personality files are stored. Click on Browse to change this.
The left window shows the personality files in the working folder. Click on Device or Manufacturer to alphabetically sort these columns. Select the files for the cache builder, use Ctrl in combination with the left mouse button to add to the selection, Use Shift in combination with the left mouse button to select a range of files Click Add to queue the selected personality files, these will then be copied to the right window. Click Add All to queue all files from the working folder Remove can be used to deselect queued files. Click Remove All to deselect all queued files. The three tick boxes available at near the bottom of the window allow you to decide which personality information is included in your Cache file. By default, all information is added, but you can leave out certain information to increase the number of files you can successfully fit into the cache. You can choose to leave out Preset Focuses (palettes), Range Tables (disables intelligent display on attribute wheels) and Macros if you wish. Click on Build Cache to Create the Cache file. Fill in your name and some notes, choose a destination folder for the cache file and click OK. The file p2000per.cmp will be created in the output directory. c) Results The results window indicates the cache file conformity. A tick means that the cache file can be loaded permanently into the desk, a cross means that the cache file can only be used off the disk, in this case rename the cache file to aps.cmp 4. Using the Cache File a) Loading In the Pearl and Sapphire, Set keyswitch to SYSTEM, press [G]Utilities, [D]Load Cache File. In the Azure, set User Level to AVO then press [E] Utilities followed by [D] Load Cache file b) Using Make sure there is not disk in the drive, then Patch a fixture as usual. 5. Fixture Personality Database Management a) Populating the personality folder with new files The Cache builder is supplied with the full database of Fixture personality files and during installation these are placed in the working folder [Program Files/Avolites/Cache Builder]. New personality files can be downloaded from our Personality Library (look for the download called R20 files for Cachebuilder) or created using a text editor such as Notepad. b) Aps.cmp This is the full database of fixture personality files in compressed form. This has the same format as the cache file, so to create one, carry out the steps to create a cache file, as above, and rename the output file to aps.cmp

Whats New Version 1.5 Improved recognition of manufacturers using ShortNames. This will be completed with the renaming of the remaining personality files shortly. Cache Builder now allows a user to choose which information from a personality is included. Range Tables, Preset Focuses and Macros can currently be left out. Version 1.4 Compression improved by around 20% Cache Builder now informs the user if the 1,000 file limit has been exceeded once the file has been built. Version 1.3 2000/2004 compatibility option removed due to bug in the implementation which forced either Range Tables or Preset Focuses to be removed from Personalities in the cache.