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TT-FAI
User Manual
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Triggertrap TT-FAI User Manual

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Triggertrap Flash Adapter
User Manual
TT-FA1
Updated: 27 November 2013
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Triggertrap Flash Adapter Manual | Page 2
Table of Contents
Table of Contents ................................................................2
Introduction ..........................................................................3
Why would I need to use Triggertrap ash Adapter? 4
Setting up a ash with Triggertrap FLash Adapter .5
How to set up Triggertrap Mobile to work with
Triggertrap Flash Adapter ................................................6
Example: Capturing a water balloon popping .........7
Troubleshooting with Triggertrap Flash Adapter ....8
The ash keeps ring in quick succession and
Do you still have questions? ......................................... 10
The small print ................................................................... 10
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Introduction
Triggertrap Flash Adapter is a dual hotshoe mount
and cable that enables you to trigger your ash using a range of triggering modes when used with the
Triggertrap Mobile Dongle and Triggertrap Mobile
app on an iOS device or with a Triggertrap hardware product.
Please note: this manual does not cover the triggering modes available in the Triggertrap Mobile app. For information on how to use the app please see the Triggertrap Mobile manual for your Android or iOS device.
Compatible ash units
All modern ash units that connect to a standard hotshoe should be compatible with Trigger trap Flash Adapter. This means that unfortunately Sony/Minolta ashes are not supported, unless you use a standard hotshoe adapter for them.
iOS only
Although Triggertrap Mobile is compatible with both iOS and Android devices, the audio latency on Android devices is generally too large to achieve the high speed photography that Triggertrap Flash Adapter is capable of. We therefore suggest that for best results
Triggertrap Flash Adapter should only be used with
iOS devices. Triggertrap Mobile is available on any iOS device running iOS 6.1 or newer including iPhones, iPads and iPod touches.
To read more about audio latency and Triggertrap Mobile check out our blog article here: https://trigger-
trap.com/ttm-high-speed-triggering-android/.
DID YOU KNOW?
You can always get the most recent version of Triggertrap Mobile manual from our website – point your browser at
http://tri.gg/manual
WARNING
Never attempt to use the ash adapter with studio equipment or with high-voltage ashguns as this may
damage your smartphone.
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Why would I need to use Triggertrap ash Adapter?
There are a few reasons why you may want to use a ash with Triggertrap Mobile, but it all comes down to one key point, and that’s speed!
Triggering a camera takes time. Before the camera res, there’s a load of mechanical stuff that has to happen rst. This delay (known as shutter lag) can make a huge difference, especially when you’re doing high speed photography. Firing a ash on the other hand is mighty fast - there’s nothing mechanical to slow it down!
The maximum shutter speed on a camera is typically 1/4000 or, if you’re lucky, 1/8000 of a second. Now, this is pretty fast for most photography, but often not fast enough for high speed shoots.
Using a ash is MUCH faster. For example, at its lowest power, a Nikon SB-800 has a ash duration of 1/41600 of a second, which is substantially faster than the fastest shutter speed.
This may sound confusing because we are talking about the ash speed and not the shutter itself but you can still use this ash speed as your exposure time. If
you set up your high speed photo shoot in a totally
darkened room, with the camera on bulb and your ash set to the lowest power, the only light exposure you’ll record is the short burst of light from the ash, making your exposure duration extremely short!
WARNING
Always ensure you use the Triggertrap Mobile Dongle, and never attempt to connect your ash directly to your iOS device. Connecting the iOS device and the ash without a dongle could harm your ash, your iOS device, or both.
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Setting up a ash with Triggertrap FLash Adapter
Manual mode
Most ash units will have a manual mode you can set them to. This mode best enables Triggertrap to control how and when the ash is triggered. If your ash unit does not have a manual mode, please refer to the man­ual to nd the mode that best enables external trigger control.
Lowest power output
Using the lowest power output setting on your ash means that the ash duration is much shorter and your ash unit can work at its fastest, meaning that you will be able to achieve the highest speed possible.
Dual hotshoe
Triggertrap Flash Adapter’s dual hotshoe mount allows you to control two ash units at the same time, giving you double the amount of light and a much more even and controllable spread of light.
Even though the ash adapter only has two hotshoes, there are still options for using multiple ashes for more intricate lighting setups . You could plug a radio trigger, like a Pocket Wizard or Radio Popper on one of the hotshoes, or you could set up other ashes with optical slaves. One thing to consider is that using radio triggers
may slow things down slightly.
Photo: Bulb Smash by Paul Traviss
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How to set up Triggertrap Mobile to work with Triggertrap Flash Adapter
Pulse Length
The Pulse Length is the duration Triggertrap Mobile sends
a signal to your ash. When you rst launch the app, you will be greeted with a welcome screen. You will then be taken to the Menu. From the Menu, select Settings. On this page you will see
a box called Pulse Length. Set this to 30ms - Fast.
Sensor Reset Delay
The sensor reset delay controls how quickly you want your sensor to reset before taking another photograph. You may want to consider setting a sensor reset delay in order to minimise any accidental multiple exposures or a strobe effect. Setting a delay of 5 seconds will cause Triggertrap Mobile to wait 5 seconds before ring the ash again.
Once this is done, plug the Flash Adapter into your Mobile Dongle, then plug the dongle into your smart device.
Photo: Balloon Splash by Gabe Toth
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Example: Capturing a water balloon popping
One easy (yet seriously fun) way of experimenting with the ash adapter is to capture a water balloon popping! Here is our guide to setting up your photo shoot.
Environment
You’ll need to either set up for these photos in a darkened room (with something to catch the water from the balloon) or outside when it is dark, away from any sort of lights. In other words, the darker the better!
Flash
As mentioned above, set your ash to the lowest power possible. Point the ash at where you intend to pop the balloon, make sure the ash is far enough away so that you do not drown the image in light and overexpose it, but not too far away.
Camera
Set the camera on a tripod, put it in manual focus and manual exposure. Set the shutter speed to bulb, the aperture to a moderate value (e.g. f/8), and set the ISO. You’ll want to take a series of test images as the ISO will need to be set so that the exposure is correct for the ash power. Manual focus the camera on the position you will be popping the balloon. To do this easily, place something (or someone!) where you are going to pop the balloon and focus on it (them).
Triggertrap Mobile
Open up the app, go into Settings and make sure you
have the Pulse Length set to 30ms. Also set a Sensor
Reset Delay of 5s.
Once this is done, go into the Sound Sensor Mode, set the threshold to a level at which the ash wont be red by any ambient noise. Place the iOS device at a safe distance from where you are going to pop the balloon.
Water Balloons
In order to set Triggertrap Mobile off, you’ll need a pop! If you have no luck getting a pop with a balloon full of water, blow some air into the balloon once you’ve part lled it with water.
When you’re ready, star t the sound sensor mode and clap to ensure the ash res. Once you know the ash is ready to re, open the shutter on the camera. Then it’s time to pop the water balloon! One popped, close the shutter and you should have one extremely cool photo.
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Troubleshooting with Triggertrap Flash Adapter
The ash is taking forever to re, what’s up?!
One key thing to consider when using the sound trigger is how far away you place the smart device from the action. The closer to the source of the sound, the faster the ash will re. This is simply because the further away the device is from the source of the sound, the further
the sound has to travel.
For optimum results, place the iOS device as close as possible to the source of the sound. The closer to the source of the sound the device is, the quicker the device will react to the sound (as the sound has less distance to travel) and therefore the faster the ash is able to re.
The ash is ring too early
If your ash is ring before the action you want to capture has happened, you have two options.
You can move your iOS device further from the sound and/or from the scene you are trying to capture. This will give your device the necessary time to send the signal to your ash before the explosion happens! One metre is usually a good rule of thumb. Getting this right really does mean experimenting in order to get all relative distances correct for the perfect shot.
The other option is to go into the Triggertrap Mobile app
settings and add a Sensor Delay, creating a set delay length before the ash is red.
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The ash keeps ring in quick succession and ruining my photos
1. First of all, check the settings on your ash unit.
Are you in manual mode? Make sure you have
turned off any presets that might allow your ash
unit to strobe like this.
2. Check the threshold in the sensor mode you are
using in Triggertrap Mobile. Is the threshold set too
low, meaning that the sound level remains over the
threshold for too long?
3. Go into Settings in Triggertrap Mobile and select a
Sensor Reset Delay of about ve seconds.
4. If none of the above seem to have helped, send us
an email on [email protected]
The ash won’t re at all!
1. Turn on your ash and press the ‘test’ button - does the ash go off?
2. Do NOT use the Triggertrap Mobile Dongle
for this test: Connect your ash to the Triggertrap Flash Adapter, and connect the cable to the Flash Adapter. Now, please short-circuit the side of the cable that you usually plug into the Triggertrap Flash Adapter, using some aluminium foil. Does that trigger the ash?
3. Presuming step 1 and 2 resulted in your ash triggering correctly - have you tried your dongle with your camera? Does that work?
4. If none of the above work, send us an email to [email protected] and we’ll help you out!
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Do you still have questions?
We’ve done everything we can to make this manual as thorough as possible, but if you’re still stuck, we’d love to help you out!
We have an extremely lively and helpful support forum
on http://tri.gg/forum. If you’ve got a problem, search
here rst – chances are that someone has already asked your question, and you’ll be able to nd your problem
here.
We also have an FAQ Knowledge Base that lives at
http://tri.gg/faq that will provide you with some clearer
and more in depth explanations for some of our more commonly asked product questions.
If you’re still stuck, you can email our super friendly
support team at [email protected]
The small print
We have taken all care to ensure that this manual is as complete and as accurate as possible, but there may be mistakes here and there. If you spot any errors, please contact us on [email protected] so we can x it in the next version of our manual!
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We have taken all care to ensure that this manual is as complete and as accurate as possible, but there may be mistakes here and there. If you spot any errors, please contact us at [email protected] so we can x it in the next version of our manual.
We are Triggertrap.
We love photography.
For more information,
visit us on the web at:
triggertrap.com
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