Quick Tip Tuesday: Accessing Output by DMX Channel
Simple DMX access ability is an invaluable thing. You can use this to check an unruly attribute of a multichannel fixture, or to locate unpatched dimmers, or even just as the quintessential DMX test output.
On the grandMA, you can call up, and give a value to, any channel in your rig – it doesn’t matter if it is patched or not. To do this, you need to tell the console which universe and channel you want to work with, followed by a value between 0 and 100. For example, to call up Channel 42 of universe 3 (B) to 50%, I would use the syntax: DMX 3.42 @ 50 ENTER.
Tip: to access “DMX” on your Commandline, press the CHANNEL key twice.
Keep in mind that when you access DMX channels, you can’t simply CLEAR them out. This process actually parks those channels at the value you specified in your command (If you open the DMX Sheet, you’ll see that all parked channels have a light blue box around them). This means that when when you’re finished, you’ll need to un-park them. A syntax for this would look like Go DMX 3.42 ENTER (where the Go is initiated by hitting the GO+ key)
Quick Tips are exactly what the name should imply. We’re adding these to our blog in an effort to help programmers and operators of all levels. If you’d like to suggest a Quick Tip, drop us a message on this blog, or on our Facebook page, or even via Twitter.
Tags: grandMA programming, tips
This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 at 9:00 am and is filed under MA Series 1 Consoles, Quick Tip Tuesday. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.