Crestron Lighting Program Considerations Technical Bulletin

Purpose

This Technical Bulletin describes information to consider when creating a Crestron lighting program for home automation systems.

Considerations: Creating a Crestron Lighting Program

ClareCloud configuration tasks are more efficient when you consider the following suggestions in advance of creating the a Crestron lighting program.

  • Reference IDs - The RSD file uses Reference IDs located on each button programming page. By default, the buttons on ClareCloud keypads will not be generated without the reference name. This is the same reference name for the button used by any integrated Crestron processor. Do not abbreviate Reference IDs. This is information is imported literally.
  • Room Consistency - Maintain consistency within rooms and naming conventions. Inconsistencies are more obvious on a single iPad rather than on physical keypads. Do not abbreviate room names. Attempt to match client expectations for room names.
  • Program Virtual Global Summary Keypads - Program virtual keypads that are “global summary” keypads, and reference them from ClareCloud. You can locate your virtual “global summary” keypads anywhere in D3Pro (for example, a room called “global”). From ClareCloud, you can generate the keypad service in any room, and you do not need to logically place the keypad in each room from Crestron.
  • Lighting Summary Applet “Room Off” Button - From ClareCloud, the lighting summary applet is pointed to an individual button in each room. As a result, each room needs a button that signi!es the room is “off” when you are con!guring the Crestron lighting program. The lighting summary applet will display the following: the room name, a graphical indication when the button is off and a lack of indication when the button is on (inverted). Striking that row in ClareCloud presses the referenced button in the Crestron lighting system.
  • ClareCloud Built-in Timers - ClareCloud has timers built into the rule system. These timers are accessible from ClareCloud and easier to deploy than Crestron timers. You may choose to avoid con!guring timers within Crestron and simply use the ClareCloud built-in timers.
  • Future Availability of End-User Timers in ClareCloud - Future releases of the configuration tool in ClareCloud will have timers built into individual keypad applets. The scheduling of an individual button action will be controllable by the end-user with a release in 2012 around January/February. You may consider how you program timers in Crestron or ClareCloud based on the upcoming availability of end-user timers.
  • Cloned Keypad Buttons in Crestron - Cloned keypad buttons in Crestron do not have reference names, therefore their names do not appear in the RSD file.
  • Virtual Keypad Layout - It is common for system programmers to use and clone virtual keypads. If you choose this method, tagging the actual virtual keypad (not the cloned keypad) causes it to appear in the RSD file. Virtual keypads do not physically appear in a Crestron lighting system, therefore it is common for system programmers to overlook the necessity to layout the virtual keypads for “customer use”. In order to minimize your effort in ClareCloud, consider the arrangement of buttons on the virtual keypad. By default, virtual keypads (not physically evident in a Crestron lighting system) will display exactly as they are laid out in D3Pro once imported by ClareCloud. The buttons in ClareCloud are laid out in order from left to right.

Full PDF - Crestron Lighting Program Considerations Technical Bulletin (DOC ID 072)