Ready… GO

Today, you’ll find updated versions of software for the following products, along with Release Notes detailing the updates:

grandMA Series 1
grandMA Console Software Version 6.520
grandMA1 onPC Version 6.520

grandMA Series 2
grandMA2 Console Software Version 1.9
grandMA2 onPC Version 1.9

Visualizer
grandMA 3D Version [1.9.0][6.5] (compatible with today’s console software releases)

Video Processing Unit
grandMA VPU Software Version 4.5

Please visit our Downloads page to access these updates and the Release Notes.

Thanks!
The ACT Lighting Software Team

Temporary windows are those that can be called up independent of a View, and don’t require that you clear off the desktop to open them. Accessing them is easy. To do this, press and hold the LIST key and press any of the following keys to open the corresponding window:

CHANNEL opens the Channel Sheet
FIXTURE opens the Fixture Sheet
GROUP opens the Group Pool
SEQUENCE opens the Sequence Pool
EXECUTOR opens the Executor Sheet
MACRO opens the Macro Pool
VIEW opens the Views Pool
EFFECT opens the Effects Pool
PAGE opens Channel Pages*

Tip: Some of these keys are associated with multiple windows, which means that by holding the LIST key and hitting certain other keys twice, you’ll open other windows. The PRESET key is a great example of this. Each time you hit PRESET while holding down the LIST key, you’ll be given a new PRESET window (Dimmer, Pan/Tilt, Color, etc).

*Also try holding the LIST key and pressing keys like CHANNEL, FIXTURE, GROUP, EXECUTOR, PAGE and EFFECT more than once…

All temporary windows can be closed by pressing the ESCAPE 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.

Ever work with on a show where you need to adjust the speed of your chases on a nightly basis? This could be because the performer chooses to play a song faster or slower each night… or maybe because you want to use the same chase for two different portions of your show at different times, or you just want the chase to speed up or slow down during the same number. An easy way to adjust the speed of your chase live and on the fly is by using the LEARN key.

Now, there is a hard key labelled LEARN, but I recommend changing one of the keys on your Chaser Executor to LEARN. You can do this in the ASSIGN menu of the Executor (in the SETTINGS tab). Once you have that, you can simply tap your new LEARN key as if you were tapping along with the music. You’ll need to tap it at least 3 times, but once you’ve stopped – the chase will remember the duration between the taps and treat it as BPM, or Beats Per Minute. You can even change this live while it’s playing.

Also note: Try using the LEARN option with your Effects as well…

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.

This week’s Quick Tip comes from Joe Cabrera of ACT Lighting.

The setup: You select a group of fixtures and recall an existing pan/tilt preset. As they move into position, you see one of the fixtures move in a different direction. They all end up pointing to the same spot on stage, but the transition just isn’t uniform for all of the fixtures.

This is, of course, one of the pitfalls of having a wide pan range on a moving-head fixture; there are often at least three different orientations the head can be in and still point in exactly the same direction. And it’s sometimes very easy to get a few of your fixtures flipped around differently than the rest.

Thankfully, the grandMA includes a very handy Flip function (available in the QuicKey Pool), which will cycle your selected fixtures through the different orientations that all point in their current directions.

The trick becomes figuring out exactly which fixtures out of the lot need to be flipped. In times past, this meant re-running the transition, keeping an eye on the stage to try and pick out the unruly few. But the Fixture Sheet in the grandMA includes a very subtle display that will quickly show which fixtures you might want to flip.

In this image, all of the ACT Spots are in the same USR preset, but one of them is in a different orientation than all the rest. Notice the white square just to the left of the names of the fixtures. This is a very basic indicator of the pan range. Looking at the placement of these dots, it’s easy to see that the pan for Fixture 203 is in a very different place than all of the others. So, we know this is the fixture we need to select and flip. Keep in mind that it may need to flip twice to find the same orientation as its friends.

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.

A Group Master is a Fader Assignment that allows for a maximum intensity to be held for a group of lights in your showfile. Some consoles call this an “Inhibitive Fader” because it can inhibit the output of your lights regardless of any other higher values currently in playback. Think of it as a GrandMaster, but only for a particular group of fixtures instead of all fixtures.

To assign a Group Master, you first need to have a Group of the fixtures you wish to inhibit in the Groups Pool. Then, enter the ASSIGN menu of any Fader and enter the FUNCTION tab. Here, by pressing the GROUP MASTER option, you can then pick from your established Groups- which will show up in the list.
Alternatively, you can simply press the Group you wish to inhibit from the Groups Pool, followed by any button on an empty Executor Fader.

Using these Group Masters are simple, but if you’re likely to be changing pages a lot in a show, keep in mind that your Group Master might be on a different page- and might have been previously lowered- which might result in less output on stage than you might expect. A quick way to locate all of your Group Masters is to press the GROUP key twice. This will open a new window showing all of your Group Masters and their respective levels. Here, you can press the FULL or OUT options to quickly change the master levels without changing pages (there is also an ALL FULL option). However, if you would like to go to the page containing that Group Master, simply press the name of the Group Master.

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.

We’re not talking cutting color and then getting out the china marker. Rather, if your apt to be using grandMA3D to pre-render your programming and you’re using conventional fixtures (lekos, pars, fresnels, etc) – your rendering will look more complete if you add color to your fixtures.

This process can actually be completed from within your showfile on the console. Enter LIVE ACCESS or FULL ACCESS and locate your conventional fixtures in their respective layers. If you scroll to the right, you’ll find a column labeled “Color.” Select any cell(s) in this column and click to open the Change Color window. At the top of this new window, you’ll notice a button with an arrow pointing up. If you click this arrow, you’ll be presented with various gel manufacturers. Here, pick the manufacturer of the color you’re using, then you can type in the Gel number, or scroll through the list to find the color you’re looking for. No cutting required.

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.

Looking for a quick way to give your musical show a tighter look? Try using Speed Groups. The basic idea of a Speed Group is to link the playback speeds of multiple Chases and/or Effects. With the speeds linked, not only do they begin playing back at the same rate, but adjusting the speed of any member of the group (or the master control) adjusts all members of the group. This way, if the band happens to speed up or slow down, you only have to make one adjustment to keep your whole rig in line.

Assigning a Chase or Effect to a Speed Group happens in the Edit Menu for the object. In the Chase Edit Menu, you will see an option that is labeled Individual Speed above the choices for the different groups. When editing an Effect, you will see a button, marked Speed Group Individual. Touching this will open a small menu, which will allow you to choose a group or set the Effect back to Individual.

Although you may see your Chase or Effect initially jump to match the current speed of the group, you shouldn’t think of it like a preset speed. Once your Chase of Effect is a member of the Group, you can adjust the speed as per normal. The addition being that you’re actually adjusting the speed of the Group.

While adjusting the speed of any member of a Speed Group is a viable way of adjusting the whole group, you can also assign one of your executor faders as a master control for the group. Simply open the Assign Menu for the desired Executor, touch Special Master, and choose the desired Speed Group from the list.

Using Speed Groups to control multiple parameters during the same song adds quite a bit of utility to the Rate adjustments of Chases and Effects. For instance, you might set your Pan/Tilt chase to follow the beat of the song exactly, but you might like your Strobe Chase to subdivide the beat. So, while both are set to follow the same Speed Group, a Rate of 4:1 on the Strobe Chase will multiply the the speed for that chase.

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.

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.