Ready… GO

Are you using QUIKEYS in your showfile? QUIKEYS allow for on-screen access to both buttons that are found as hard keys and others that aren’t. As their name implies they’ll help speed up your programming. Why in the world would you want a second, on-screen version of something you already have as a hard key? Well, some of the QUIKEY options allow you to bypass having to hit that hard key multiple times. For example, if you find that you’re constantly using ALIGN <> (SYM), you can set a QUIKEY for this that will save you from having to hit the ALIGN key 4 times. Also, keep in mind that not all hard keys are found on every model in the MA line. If you’re using a Replay Unit- these keys can be invaluable.

Creating a QUIKEY is easy. Simply open the QUIKEY pool, hit the EDIT key and touch any empty QUIKEY cell (alternatively, you can right-click in the cell). The console will open a new window showing you a list of all possible QUIKEYs that can be added.

Some of my favorites include the ENCODER SPEED option which allows you to toggle between coarse and fine (cause sometimes I just don’t like pushing down on the encoder, ok?); FLIP especially for working with yoke-based moving lights (but it can also be used on mirrored fixtures to help create symmetrical positions); BLOCK and UNBLOCK for fixtures in cues; and, of course, the selection tools: ALL, ODD, EVEN, INVERT, SHUFFLE, and the CCOPY options (Circular Copies – forwards and backwards). In fact, I like Circular Copies soooo much, I think I’ll have to dedicate an entire Quick Tip Tuesday to talking about them. Look for that in the future.

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, February 2nd, 2010 at 11:00 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.