I think maybe you’re looking at photos of the power/sync boards? Those aren’t the full height of the other PCBs specifically so they provide clearance for things to plug in. See LZX Gen3 Modular Releases 2021 - #198 by creatorlars for a pic of the back of one of the modules. You can clearly see that the sync connecters are far from where rail lips will be. Or are you talking about something else?
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Clearly I misunderstood the meaning of “rear assemblies”. I’m finding a lot of the cross-discussions here confusing. I’m going to ignore this thread as it really isn’t helping me as much as I thought it was. That’s a shame, as there may be a lot of useful, important information here, but for me it’s just randomly. This means I’ll have no idea what these modules do and any questions will simply refer me here, which really won’t help. Perhaps none of these modules are for me. Perhaps none of the LZX modules are for me. The only thing I’m sure of is that the Gen3 modules solve the power problem that has troubled me for years. That’s great, but I don’t know if it’ll help me so much if I can’t read this thread. Nevermind. I’ll cope. Thanks.
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have you looked at the product descriptions on the LZX site for the FKG3 and SMX3? They explain what the modules do succinctly in one place that isn’t going anywhere.
I made a FKG3 emulation in touch designer and would be happy to go over how it is working with you on a discord video chat. The matrix mixer is easier and could be done at the same time.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major effect on our lives. Many of us are facing challenges that can be stressful, overwhelming, and cause strong emotions in adults and children. Learning to cope with stress in a healthy way will make you, the people you care about, and the LZX video synth community become more resilient.
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I have looked at them and compared the info with what is found here in this thread. I’d say there’s a lot of additional material here that probably doesn’t belong on a product page but which could go in a longer document, like a manual. For example, the discussions of the ART-3 module. I’m still trying to relate that to what I find in the Wikipedia article on affine transformations. However, I expect there will eventually be a video to explain and demonstrate this module, and that will no doubt clarify a great deal. All such videos so far have been excellent and very helpful indeed. Many thanks to Johnny Woods! They are often my primary guide to using LZX modules, while manuals and product pages are good reference tools. That is, they do different things. It’s all valuable. Thanks, everyone!
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There will definitely be an “All About _____” thread for each module, once the module begins shipping. I have been using those threads as expanded manuals, with links to tagged conversations here on the forum and demo videos. We’re working towards only announcing a product when we can simultaneously release the demo video and “All About…” manual, but we’re not quite there yet.
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Yes, that will help enormously. Thanks.
BTW, I live in the UK, and I can only find one shop here that still has any LZX modules in stock. Hopefully that’ll change when the new modules are announced.
Reposted, here is a photo of the rear of the module with connectors attached, so that you can see more clearly. This is the full assembly minus the backpanel (which shields the power board.)
Also, this thread is more of a long winded discussion than a coherent reference – don’t be shy about asking questions that may have already been asked, I don’t mind answering.
Gen3 modules released this year are more of an “advance release” on the official debut (with manuals and videos.) Certain parts of the company are on different time tables. I’m the only one here that can write the documentation, and it has to wait until I’ve completed everything else on my plate (Chromagnon, TBC2, etc.) The best I can do for right now is answer any questions you have.
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we just made a art3 emulation in touchdesigner this morning the previous offer stands for that as well if you are just dying to know what stuff does in a basic sense!
I can’t wait to patch it up as a coordinate map for video when I get home from work 
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Ok, that photo definitely helps. I saw it earlier but didn’t make the link with the photos of what I’m assuming are sub-assemblies for the power and sync connectors. I’m also assuming the back PCB has been removed to expose the circuitry and LEDs in particular. Very pretty! As always, your patient support is greatly appreciated. Many thanks.
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I’d love to play with your emulation. Unfortunately Touchdesigner doesn’t appear to be available for Linux, which is the only platform I have here. Thanks for the offer.
I’d love to see a link to the TD emulations…
right the offer was to do a video chat through discord! no need for you to have touchdesigner.
I’d show you what the output looks like and talk through the building blocks I used to make it.
no worries if that isn’t for you
@delray I’m not planning on posting any files until I get modules in my hands.
I will walk through the functionality/building blocks with people on the LZX discord. This is all based on the front panels and discussions within this thread.
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An affine function is a complex function used in mathematics and specifically graphics. Electronically it involves a 4x 4 Quadrant Multiplier/VCA circuits and some summing amplifiers.
If you are more familiar with synth functions think of an affine function as a 2D matrix VCA with thru zero modulation
Written as an equation, it looks like this:
Hout = Hin * XX + Vin * YX + X
Vout = Vin * YY + Hin * XY + Y
If you process HV ramps with an affine function, you now have an analogue graphics machine that can perform 2D translation, scale, shear, rotation (with sin/cos sources) of the resulting patterns or shapes synthesized by the ramp sources.
The Scanimate and Rutt-Etra systems used 4 quadrant multipliers extensively for vector modification, but did not include a consolidated affine function or a “morph” function, wherein the depth of the whole transformation can be moved in one step.
For those of you doing Rutt-Etra luma displacement style effects, this is really powerful! You can program a whole deformation with your luma modulation rather than just modulating one axis at a time.
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Ahh, there I have a different problem. While I can use Discord, my computer has no microphone or camera for the video chat. Thanks again for the offer, but please see my reply to Lars.
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Ahh, now I get it. This is exactly what I needed! Thanks.
Another key to understanding ART3 in the scope of this initial set, is that it works with DSG3 to provide an “analogue sprite engine.” ART3 positions, scales, and warps the sprite. DSG3 defines the sprite’s texture and boundary. How you patch DSG3 to your color output / workflow defines the sprite’s colorization palette. This is similar to the Shapechanger + Navigator combo.
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Yes, I recognised this from your earlier explanation of the affine transform. It’s very clear from that how ART3 can scale and position the sprite. I was studying your quadrature patch again a few hours ago and the router’s role suddenly made sense to me. I’m having little epiphanies like this now. Thanks! This is so helpful.
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Just a question re: FKG-3. I don’t quite understand the chroma key functionality as you have explained it here.
for instance if I plug in RGB video to RGB key inputs, can I use the threshold scan across all three channels and key out any color such as purple(R+B) ?
Or does it only work for individual channel . so I can key out red or green or blue individually but not colors in between ?
if so how would I key out purple or a particular shade of brown or whatever color that isn’t red or green or blue? Are there dead spots or can you program it to key out any possible color just by selecting a particular channel and setting ?
Also the switch on the top left is to invert the key ?
cheers 
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FKG3 is “RGB logic” based, it is a soft keyer adaptation of the keying logic in the Fairlight CVI and similar keyers from the era (Visionary series TVFKG had a hard key variant of this function).
It’s not the only kind of chroma keyer – for example, a YUV based keyer (like keyers with joysticks, such as Polar Fringe) is a different type of logic that involves hue selection.
Luma Key = Red + Green + Blue (weighted sum of all channels)
Red Key = Red AND NOT Green AND NOT Blue
Green Key = Green AND NOT Red AND NOT Blue
Blue Key = Blue AND NOT Red AND NOT Green
The logic is implemented with analogue minimum circuitry, so that the sources are fully soft.
Since in LZX world we patch RGB on separate cables, there are tons of patching tricks with this type of keyer, and that is part of the design intention here.
The threshold behaves like an inclusion control. The higher the threshold, the more the key is derived from only pure blue. The lower the threshold, the more other colors (sage, cerulean, azure, turqouise, etc) are also included, until finally you are seeing all the colors (red and green, too). The softness is the proportion at which the non-perfect-blue colors apply to the key.
if so how would I key out purple or a particular shade of brown or whatever color that isn’t red or green or blue? Are there dead spots or can you program it to key out any possible color just by selecting a particular channel and setting ?
For continuous hue selection, you would want a YUV extraction based keyer, like Polar Fringe.
Or you could use a module that alters the hue of the key source before patching it to FKG3 to center Red/Green/Blue on different source hues through translation.
So think of “RGB Chroma Key” and “UV Chroma Key” as two different types of chroma keys. RGB has cones that are centered on 3 specific hues, whereas UV is more like a quadrilateral region within a 2D space. I’m sure we’ll have a UV Chroma Key in the Gen3 lineup.
Yes.
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