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Looking to gauge interest in doing a series of how to videos for composer Home edition.

I am looking to format the videos around dispelling myths and misconceptions of what can and cant be done, with a completed control 4 project.

I want to keep these videos entertaining short and to the point regarding, programming, drivers, and overall automation of the project.

So what I would like to know, does any one care or want this type of content?

Secondly what topics would you like me to cover?

So let me have it!

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5 minutes ago, prabeau said:

Extremely interested.

Any topic regarding programming with HE would be welcomed I'm sure.

I would appreciate content regards scenes ( lightning and media) still a hit and miss for me.

yea lighting scenes have a lot of great options and features to be programmed with.

I have some good ideas on examples too.

 

media scenes are more or less dead in my opinion but still could have some uses.,

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24 minutes ago, Matt Lowe said:

Looking to gauge interest in doing a series of how to videos for composer Home edition.

I am looking to format the videos around dispelling myths and misconceptions of what can and cant be done, with a completed control 4 project.

I want to keep these videos entertaining short and to the point regarding, programming, drivers, and overall automation of the project.

So what I would like to know, does any one care or want this type of content?

Secondly what topics would you like me to cover?

So let me have it!

 

great idea and would be most welcomed.  Maybe put up some polls to get ideas?  Could have 1 poll with basic c4 stuff like timers or lighting scenes, etc then maybe a few videos on the more popular drivers (IFTTT, Kodi, Blue Iris, etc).

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8 minutes ago, wazza69 said:

Sounds great! I think an explanation of what is user definable vs dealer setup would be good for those considering C4

Not sure what you mean.

All variables are exposed and can be programmed from both sides.

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6 minutes ago, eggzlot said:

 

great idea and would be most welcomed.  Maybe put up some polls to get ideas?  Could have 1 poll with basic c4 stuff like timers or lighting scenes, etc then maybe a few videos on the more popular drivers (IFTTT, Kodi, Blue Iris, etc).

i was looking to do a poll but wasn't sure how to hear, plus lazy Ha!

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Just kind of rambling here.  Things I've run across or wish I'd known earlier (although I admit I didn't read all the docs first).  May or may not fit in your vision, or might trigger some ideas:

  • Best practices.  Right time and place to use Macros.  Naming conventions to make your life easier.  Logging.
  • Organization.  Things to have your dealer do (like clean up rooms/names and locations of drivers like you did for me) - make it easier for owner to continue with HE.
  • Scripting/debugging tips.  SNMP use.  How to find out if you "got here" in code (flash LED or log).
  • Highly recommended additional drivers for the do-it-yourselfer (i.e. "how to own your system"): Renamer, Variable Manipulator, Event Logging.  More advanced: Advanced Announcements, IFTTT.
  • Advanced Lighting Scenes.  In particular, proper use of tracking.
  • Light device tweaking.  Getting the most from your bulb - properly setting Cold Start and Minimum.
  • Getting the most from your buttons.  When to use press/release vs. tap.  Best practices for combining that with a double or triple tap.  Using timers for a long-press (really easy and handy).  Some of the tweaks @South Africa C4 user talks about where you combine press and tap with some careful ramp rates.
  • Some "gotchas".  Forgetting to refresh nav.  Not realizing there's more stuff on the screen (usually scrolled off the edge at the bottom of actions).
  • Certain documentation you should keep for yourself (so you don't forget important things about your variables, macros, ... and get lost in your own project since you can't really add comments to script).  Ask your dealer for a dump of your code (and bindings).  

 

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Don't forget what can't be done - by a new BluRay player and want to get it working with C4 - you will have to call your dealer for that.  Get an Echo Dot - you can set that up yourself.

Show how to use the properties tab in Composer HE and how you can use that to control your system.  Show all of the tabs for the devices that you can sometimes overlook.

The list right above by rek is excellent as well.

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  • Have your dealer bind most/all buttons to advanced lighting scenes (build the scenes yourself first to save $).  Then you can do everything yourself, and more importantly change your mind, without a dealer call.  If you want a button to do your own thing / LED behavior, you can still do it and it'll leave the scene binding there unused in case you need it later.  If you rearrange your button caps on a configurable keypad, you'll still have any bound scenes there for current or future use, even if there's no physical button for them at the time.  I don't have HE in front of me now so I may not have this exactly right... but there are some caveats (at least I've been bitten by something in the past).  IIRC, you can switch the LED behavior to follow if you want to use the scene binding or to push/release or programmable if you want to do your own thing and you won't lose your binding.  But if you mess with the other dropdown (can't remember what it's called), you lose your binding, even if you switch back, then you have to call a dealer.  [Note: I'm not sure if there's any downside to this - having all those unused bindings / empty scenes.]
  • Do NOT try to simulate proper light control button behavior (i.e. LED tracking and brighten/dim ramping) in script - big crap.  Do the binding thing above and it'll be there when you need it.
  • Any tips related to deleting things in order so as not to leave orphaned code around (not sure about this one)?
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As mentioned above, I'd watch just to see how an established programmer does things, and to get more ideas on the type of things I could do with HE. I don't know anything about macros and I'm not at all comfortable with the if/then programming.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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