Quick Tip Tuesday: Dimmer Curves
Last week I was asked via Twitter, how to set a maximum cap on the dimmer parameter of a fixture. This is a great question, because it isn’t immediately obvious when looking at the SETUP windows of the console. The answer is to apply a Dimmer Curve.
You can apply a curve as a Profile from within the Full or Live Access windows. Once in the menu, click “Patch Sheets.” Here, you’ll notice a column called “Profile” next to each attribute of the fixtures patched into your showfile. Locate the DIM parameter for the fixture you wish to set a maximum intensity for and select the PROFILE cell next to it.
In the new window, click “Add Profile” and give it a name. Then you’ll see a graph that allows you set IN and OUT points for this channel. Grab the point on the screen and drag it to the desired maximum level. Let’s say that you want to cap this fixture’s intensity at 50%. Since this window is in DMX decimal values, you’ll want to set the IN and OUT points at a value of 128 (Alternatively, if you’d like to view this in Percentage, click the box in the bottom left corner that reads DEC and toggle it to PERC). You can then close the graph window by hitting the “X” in the top right corner. Back in the SELECT PROFILE window, your new profile should be listed and selected on the left. Click “Choose Profile”.
Be sure to exit FULL or LIVE ACCESS and save your changes. This new profile will result in the fixture’s output being capped at 50%.
ALSO: if you’d like to apply this curve to multiple fixtures of the same kind at once, you can choose to set this profile in the FIXTURE TYPES menu of FULL or LIVE ACCESS.
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, Training
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 at 12:02 pm 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.