Yoke Object

The Yoke object provides a graphic representation of a pan/tilt style focussing apparatus, and a means for labelling specific focus positions. In order to best match the layout graphic to the physical movements of the fixture, the object's properties provide the ability to invert and swap axes, and to rotate the entire graphic.

The circular graphic displays the pan value as a variable length arc around part of the circle, and the tilt value as a variable length line from the end of the pan arc, across the diameter of the circle. The focus point is indicated by a colored dot at the end of the tilt line. A grey line indicates the zero-pan direction, and a small red tic on the outer circle marks the pan limit.

In Live mode focus positions can be recorded and given names which will be displayed whenever the pan and tilt attributes match that position again. To record a position simply right-click (Windows) or control-click (Mac) on the Yoke object and select Record Point from the pop-up menu. Type a name and click OK. The name will appear below the graphic. All Yoke objects have zero and 50-50 points pre-defined. The picture shows the "podium" focus.

• ID - Identifying label displayed above the graphic, typically fixture number. ID can be numbers or letters, and can be a channel number, but is used for labelling only. It is not used to connect the Yoke to a DMX data address in the Patch window. Yoke data addressing is specified using the 'addr start' and 'addr univ' properties.


• addr start - DMX slot address of the start of the yoke fixture. (1-512)


• addr univ - DMX universe of the yoke fixture.


• dmx pan - DMX address of pan function within the fixture. A value of 1 signifies the DMX pan address is the specified in 'addr start', 2 signifies the DMX pan address is the address after that, etc. At this time there is no 'fine' pan address property.


• dmx tilt - DMX address of tilt function within the fixture. At this time there is no 'fine' tilt address property.


• dot color - Color of focus indicator dot. The dot color is linkable.


• invert pan - Checkbox to cause pan data to be inverted. Check this box if the fixture has this option enabled. If the console is inverting pan data, then the levels that VMS sees will already be inverted and this box need not be checked.


• invert tilt - Checkbox to cause tilt data to be inverted. If the console is inverting tilt data, then the levels that VMS sees will already be inverted and this box need not be checked.


• locked - Checkbox to lock object so that it cannot be selected unless the alt/option key is pressed.


• max pan - Maximum pan travel in degrees. Set this to match the fixture's specification.


• orientation - Angular orientation in degrees clockwise from normal. This setting allows you to rotate the Yoke diagram to match the fixture's actual mounting angle.


• swap pan/tilt - Checkbox to switch the pan and tilt data. This box should be checked if the fixture is swapping pan and tilt data. If the console is swapping pan and tilt, then the levels that VMS sees will already be swapped and this box need not be checked.



Plan to adjust the swap, invert, and orientation properties on site while actually controlling a fixture in order to make the object's display match the fixture's movement. Using these four properties you can make the object relate to any fixture orientation, including on the floor or in a vertical position.