LZX Gen3 Primer & FAQ: The Future With Chromagnon & LZX Modular

Thanks for this update. When reading the explanation of how things went with Chromagnon and TBC2 it definetely makes sense :wink:

And it’s good to know that my earlier investment in a huge power supply wasn’t for nothing…

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Have to read this more later, but wanted to say I am super excited about 1080p, and 720p 60fps in particular. Progressive and High frame rates are gonna be awesome for sensory translator work. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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Oh, yes. For me it would be 1080p and 50fps PAL. I have a lovely set of PAL CCTV cameras that I use for feedback. I also have some HD-SDI dome cameras. So I’m real interesting in how all these might work in a hybrid SD/HD feedback setup. I also have a pair of Sensory Translators begging to be used in this context. Nevermind processing HD video and stereo audio.

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Ah man - I hate to be the one to bring it up - but the mention of TBC2 being interrelated/co-dependent on Chromagnon. Should we still expect to see TBC2 right after the rebuild is done on this first batch (I believe there was a post in December saying around something like around 2 months for rebuild?) - or is it going to continue to be held back as Chromagnon testing & finalization continues? Theres nothing I need more than to inject some external video into my system. I just ordered my third Composite to component converter for Visual Cortex - both had scaling options but nothing locked, gave me any image. Fingers crossed for #3 I guess, it was the expensive one

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TBC2 rebuild is in progress. No setbacks from Gen3. The team continues to push hard to meet goals.

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Hey, in case you haven’t come across this yet, the Ambrey composite to component converter is most people’s go-to for this as it definitely works with Visual Cortex. I know how maddening it is to try to solve this issue, so here’s a link:

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Firmware is looking great on all of these projects, it’s the hardware being finalized that’s holding us back at the moment. We can’t release any firmware until the hardware is 100%, so that’s where we’re focused.

Remember that TBC2, Chromagnon, and anything with sync or ramps infrastructure in Gen3 (ESG3, DSG3, etc) all share a common codebase. It’s going to be to everyone’s advantage that we did it this way (it’s important that we are testing all of them together – TBC2/Chromagnon/ESG3/DSG3) before releasing any of them, but it’s been a long haul to say the least.

To put it another way – ESG3 or DSG3 being done also means a huge chunk of Chromagnon/TBC2 is done as well. Everything’s moving forward together. The modules have actually been helping immensely with finally conquering the big projects.

Ah man - I hate to be the one to bring it up - but the mention of TBC2 being interrelated/co-dependent on Chromagnon. Should we still expect to see TBC2 right after the rebuild is done on this first batch (I believe there was a post in December saying around something like around 2 months for rebuild?)

It’s a perfectly valid question. Yes, we will ship TBC2 as soon as the rebuild is done (meaning within 2-3 weeks of the last of the rebuilt units being completed and fully past testing). The rebuild takes priority over all the Gen3 modular projects. The past month we’ve been pushing through the modular projects hard so that we have some coasting momentum in order to power thru TBC2 fulfillment.

We’ve had some detours, as I’ve tried to explain – at the intent of every decision we’ve made has been “what gets TBC2 and Chromagnon done?” ahead of all else. Unfortunately that’s involved “we have to release these modules so the company doesn’t die” over the past several months. If the company dies, that just leaves me alone to try to fulfill on TBC2 and Chromagnon, possibly on top of a dayjob, and that is just not realistic. So it’s a 2 steps forward, 1 step back scenario.

Every day we get closer, and right now the team is optimistic and working at our best.

Here’s a shot of the whole family under test from last week.

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Thanks - Good to know, that is the one I just ordered! Saved the best for last haha Unfortunately 3-4 weeks in between each order for international shipping to test so its been quite a long saga

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Great, you’ll love it! That little Ambrey box is surprisingly valuable; for some reason VC won’t sync to my V40HD when fed component signal, but putting an Ambrey converter between the composite out and VC works like a charm, which has been necessary to get mixed HD video sources into my rack. Hopefully TBC2 will solve all this, but still the Ambrey box just works, and that’s what we all want :slight_smile:

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Thanks for sharing the link! I bought one for this price years ago when I first snatched up a VC, but I’ve noticed the price is a little high from the one guy I see selling it on eBay. Definitely worth it.

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Hey Everyone!
Just curious if I missed a wave of shipments. I ordered a Chromagnon some time ago. Did I miss anything or are we all still waiting? I asking because my mailing address has changed three times over the years…

Thanks
Ofield

We’re all waiting, it has not shipped. Project timeline is on LZX’s website: https://lzxindustries.net/products/chromagnon

You can email LZX to update your address.

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Which other modules functionality overlaps with Chromagnon’s? Are there any modules that Chromagnon makes redundant entirely? I preordered a Chromagnon as my starter module, and am looking at modules to see what might go well with it.

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Each additional module adds to the potential of additional complexity and control. I can’t really think of a module that would be redundant alongside Chromagnon. Maybe there are modules you wouldn’t find as useful, but that depends on what you are trying to achieve.
If you are interested in shape generation, then adding DWO3, DSG3, and modules to treat and combine their outputs would be best. From a pattern-making chain of modules you can then use Chromagnon to further complexify and animate the results for final output.
If you are interested in processing external video, you will want good modulation sources. DWO3 is also handy in this iteration, as well as Proc, SMX3, and modulators like LFOs and envelope followers.
Most LZX modules do double duty in external image and shape processing. There isn’t necessarily a wrong choice.

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What about the video I/O modules TBC2 and ESG3?

TBC2 adds extra video inputs (plus other features) and ESG3 adds an output with brightness and contrast knobs (and invert/mute switches). Both would be useful expansions (or alternatives) to Chromagnon’s i/o. Not redundant, but it depends on your process and whether you need or could use expanded i/o.

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Welcome to the forum @parallaxCloud :slight_smile:
Basically Chromagnon replaces 5 (maybe even 6) Expedition modules, the range before Gen3. I’d say the list is: ShapeChanger, Navigator, Staircase, Mapper, Cyclops. (update: I forgot about Polar Fringe)

The only obvious one-to-one module in the Gen3 range to the list above is Stairs & Staircase but as @Z0NK0UT pointed out, there’s nothing wrong with duplicating some functions and Stairs/Staircase are really powerful, instant satisfaction modules.
Stairs doubles the number of outputs of Staircase, from 3 to 6, and triples it’s inputs although the 3 are summed and then processed together but hey, it’s a 3 input summing mixer thrown in which doesn’t only have to be for an RGB signal from a TBC for instance.
Someone fed back one of the outputs of Stairs back into one of it’s inputs and hey presto, Stairs owners suddenly had an instant snow-crash noise module in their racks :slight_smile:

Although there’s currently 15 Gen3 modules currently available, many of those coming soon & next year will be function blocks of Chromagnon’s functions regarding movement/rotation, I’m sure many others won’t and yet all will be good additions to a Chromagnon centered system, imho.

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Without knowing the signal routing in detail (ie, understanding if each section be patched individually) I wouldn’t so much say the Chromagnon “replaces” specific modules as much as “performs similar functionality”…

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did youall do the knobacon thing yet? and if so do you have any video footage of the event we can watch.?

Knobcon Number Eleven, runs September 8-10, 2023

https://www.knobcon.com/

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