Ready… GO

While this tip won’t be new information for everyone… we find that there are still some programmers and operators who are not aware of an extensive (free) resource online called ma-share.net.

This website contains a wealth of information relating the grandMA series of consoles. For example:

Fixture Share: find fixture profiles for new instruments not contained in the console. This can be a HUGE time saver.
Effects Share: custom effects created by programmers
Gobo Share: gobo image libraries
Forums: support and conversation relating the the grandMA
wikiMA: a user created wiki for grandMA programming

And, for those of you with a grandMA2, you’ll also have access to custom Macros that can be added to your showfile.

Please visit the site to learn more, or to submit your own content.
http://ma-share.net

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.

Controlling 64 universes of automated fixtures, Robert Sondergaard utilized four MA Lighting grandMA full size consoles and 16 MA Lighting NSPs to bring the Vancouver 2010 Paralympics Opening Ceremonies to life.

Installed at Vancouver, British Columbia’s BC Place Stadium, the consoles ran at marathon lengths in preparation for the March event. Lighting Designer Sondergaard explains, “We had 4 full size grandMAs networked together without any problems. We had two operators/programmers who worked simultaneously, and we used one of our backup desks for tech work (resetting fixtures, patching and so on). Because the venue has a translucent roof we brought our previsualization suite with us and networked it in as well – this allowed us to build looks during the day and then we finessed them at night when the sun went down.”

“Our two operators (Shaun Forbes and Sharon Huizinga) come from two completely different backgrounds – Shaun does mainly programming for music numbers on TV shows and Sharon has an extensive background programming for theatre. Each had their consoles setup in completely different ways, but were able to store in a common cue stack for playback. Sharon took the early shift, building looks in our visualizer during the afternoon and running rehearsals until 11pm, and Shaun took the late shift going until 4am building the large music numbers. Our lighting department head, Jason Bolger (who designed the networking/patch system) used the consoles in the morning to trouble shoot with PRG crew. We were going almost 18 hours a day with the consoles.”

Joe Cabrera of ACT Lighting adds,“Whenever someone from Electric Aura calls our support line, it’s never a simple question. It’s always to find out the very best way to do something that pushes the envelope. They are constantly innovating, and always with amazing results.”

Also on Robert’s Electric Aura team was TV Lighting Director Jason McKinnon and Followspot Director Alan Brodie.

The X Paralympic Opening Ceremonies were produced by Patrick Roberge Productions, directed by Patrick Roberge. Associate Director/ Head Choreographer was Joecelyn Peden. Director of Production was Nik von Schulman and Technical Director was Michael Scriven.

MA Lighting is exclusively distributed by A.C.T Lighting. A leading importer and distributor of lighting products, A.C.T Lighting, Inc. strives to identify future trends and cutting-edge products, and stock, sell and support their inventory. The company provides superior customer service and value for money to all of its clients.

Copyright © ACT Lighting 2010. All rights reserved.

This week’s tip comes from Will Murphy, our Technical Support Specialist at ACT Lighting.

Have you ever hit the highlight button and wished that your fixture highlighted to a different state? Have you ever wished that a particular parameter would default to a setting of your choice? Well, you’re in luck because these settings are very easy to change.

A good example when altering the default value may be useful is related to pan and tilt default values. If you would prefer your moving fixtures default to pointing directly at the stage, you can change the default DMX values of the pan and tilt parameters to make the lights point towards the stage.

Some programmers may prefer to alter their LED fixture defaults to have the dimmer channel default to full. This would allow a programmer to add RGB values without have to worry about first rolling the dimmer to full.

In the ‘Full Access’ window, tap the button on the bottom right that says “Fixtures Types.” You will be presented with the following window:

The top of this window lists the fixtures in your show; the bottom of this window lists the channels of the fixture. You’ll see the “Default” and “Highlight” column pertaining to each parameter here. The default value for each parameter specifies what value will be output on the particular DMX channel when there is no information for that parameter coming from the programmer or any executors.

The highlight value for each parameter specifies what value will be output on the particular DMX channel when the highlight button is activated. A blank cell in the highlight column means information for that particular parameter will not be altered when the highlight button is activated.

As an alternate option, you can change the default/highlight values on a fixture-by-fixture basis in the ‘Patch Sheets’ “DMX List.” You can find the ‘Patch Sheets’ button on the right side in the ‘Full Access’ window. The “DMX List” is shown below:

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.

Parking means to set any attribute(s) to a particular value that cant be overridden in the Output- regardless of any cues that are played, edits made or even the grandmaster being brought down. These are the basics of parking. Its easier than parallel parking, I promise.

You can park all attributes of a fixture or group of fixtures by pressing the PAUSE key, followed by a Group selection or by FIXTURE (or CHANNEL).
Example: strongPAUSE GROUP 15 or PAUSE FIXTURE 117 ENTER

If youd like to park an individual attribute of any fixture(s), first select the fixture(s) that you wish to work with and set the value of the attribute according to your needs. Then press PAUSE followed by a Preset type in the PRESET CONTROL Bar of the Fixture Sheet. (EXAMPLE: PAUSE COLOR to park all color attributes) Or, press PAUSE followed by tapping the encoder wheel of the attribute you wish to park.

When youre ready to un-park, the formula is the same, except that you will replace the PAUSE key in your syntax with the GO+ key.
Example: GO+ GROUP 15 or GO+ FIXTURE 117 ENTER

The same rule applies if youd like to un-park individual attributes. Select the fixture(s), press GO+ followed by a selection in the PRESET CONTROL bar, or tap the desired encoder wheel.

Quick Tips are exactly what the name should imply. Were adding these to our blog in an effort to help programmers and operators of all levels. If youd like to suggest a Quick Tip, drop us a message on this blog, or on our Facebook page, or even via actlightingincTwitter.

With regret, A.C.T Lighting, Inc., announces that they will no longer sell or support the i-Pix range of LED fixtures in North America. Bob Gordon, President & CEO of A.C.T stated that “while we love the fixtures, the i-Pix model did not work in the North American market, and will not allow us to reach the goals that we had set for the range.” “We wish them the best of luck.”

A leading importer and distributor of lighting products, A.C.T Lighting, Inc. strives to identify future trends and cutting-edge products, and stock, sell and support their inventory. The company provides superior customer service and value for money to all of its clients. Their product range includes the MA Lighting grandMA, MDG smoke, fog & haze generators, and the GDS LightWare range.

Ever have one of those cues where your lights move to their new position, but they seem to halt rather abruptly when they get there? No matter how much you play with timing, the cue still doesnt feel right for the song, and you might prefer a movement thats a bit more smooth. You can achieve this by using a Movement Path. These paths dont change your programming or your timing, but they can be used to smooth out or enhance your cue.

To apply a path, open the SEQUENCE EXECUTOR sheet and locate the column called MOVE PATH and right-click the cell in that column next to the cue you wish to change. A new menu will open showing you a variety of pre-made paths (along with the option to create your own). Path names indicate the path used at the beginning and the end of the cue. For example: if the path name is “NH Normal-Over”, that means, the movement will start normally, but will end by going just past the stopping position, then return to that stopping position.

In our example, we wanted to slow down the end of the movement path, so we could choose “NL Normal-Low.” This option will slow the movement down at the end of the path, giving our lights a more graceful, glide-like movement towards our stopping position. Prefer to have the start be a bit more graceful as well? Try applying “LL Low-Low” as your path.

The nice thing about paths are that they are easy to apply or change. If youre not sure how one will look, apply it and then play back the cue. If that wasnt the one you wanted, try another. Also, dont confuse the Movement Path column with the Dim Path column, which applies to changes in dimmer values.

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.