What components should I create to build a showfile?

[Simonkbike]

Anyone have good ways to put together a show cue stack quickly? I'm using a Solution desk for our annual pantomime and I usually end up with 100 or more cues in the show file. There's a lot of similarities between each year's show but each production also has a number of specials that repeat during the show, a spotlight on an object, a colour effect for a character. 

I usually take last year's show file then tweak individual cues, reordering & removing last year's specials, then adding this year's as appropriate. It a bit slow & painful. I think it should be quicker to have a base file of component scenes then add some special components & build each cue from these.  Question is, what components?

I can see a few ways to do this by

* using groups

* using cue stacks (my "subs') to update & build each cue

* calling cue stacks with macros

Anyone have their own method or preferences, or can point me to previous discussions here (had a search but couldn't spot anything relevant).

Cheers,

Simon

 

[Davidmk]

Not sure if they are available or how they work on Solution but pallettes should be your friend here.

Plenty of documentation about them but look out multi-parameter (looks) pallettes.

Rebuild your show from scratch using pallettes and, from then on, tweak pallettes not cues.

Will require some planning but should simplify things in future.

[Simonkbike]

My rig has 6 Lanta rgb pars and I use palettes for colours, fairy pink & baddie green etc, as they may change shade between shows.  
The rest are 28 incadescents, mainly Selecon Acclaims with a mixture of various old Strand lights. With these, I have trouble balancing the different output, particularly from the old lights where some are brighter than others. Could I use palettes to save the balance? I think you can save intensity in a palette (? a while since I looked), but I thought palettes are independent of fixture.
I'd really like a portfolio of settings for DSL, DSC, DSR, USL, USC, USR, which would cover our small stage maybe 24ft / 7m square.  Then I could pick the settings for a scene: full stage, 1/2 blacks, front roller etc.

I’ve also tried position palettes on a few cheap Chinese moving heads, but they drift between cues so aren’t reliable enough. Good enough for movement in dance sequences.

S.

[Davidmk]

Never tried it but you can save intensity in groups. Whether you can in pallettes I don't know, my guess is yes. Look up recording pallettes and be careful of SmartTag.

[Simonkbike]

Ah, if I can save intensity in groups that might do it.  Many thanks.

S

[scottydog75]

I'm a big convert of using groups as much as possible! Definitely speeds up programming no end, and as David has mentioned I'm 99.9% sure you can save intensity within a group.

(From a FLX user) I've also found sensible fixture numbering really helps (although it sounds like your venue is fairly small) to pick up your Fresnels, PAR side lights, cyc etc. e.g. 1X fixture numbers for Fresnels, 2X numbers for PARs etc (add the hundreds digit as required..!) I'm not experienced on Solution to understand how this would translate, but I'd definitely be looking at doing syntax based control via keyboard if it allows.

Copy/Paste of cues is obviously another big time saver for when you're moving back and forward between locations.

[Davidmk]

11 hours ago, scottydog75 said:

sensible fixture numbering really helps

Absolutely!

Also, don't forget, selection sequence matters when creating groups. Mostly for effects but for applying a spread of colours. So you may need more than one group for the same fixtures (eg start in the middle and work out 1,5,4,2,3 and the reverse 3,2,4,5,1)

(Yes, I know an effect can be reversed, it's only an example 😀 )

[Simonkbike]

@scottydog75  Yes, we're just a small village hall with an enthusiastic amdram group and a history of generous benefactors, hence the kit. My main issue is the lighting bars are only 10ft/3m above the stage so getting even lighting is all but impossible. 

Numbering isn't a problem. Back & front FOH bars with 8 each, over stage with 6 & upstage with 6c ycs.

Heading down to try groups with intensity today/tomorrow.  Will update.

S 

 

[Simonkbike]

Thanks guys, saving a group with intensity is a great help. Confirmed it doesn't link the group level into the cue, so unlike a palette, changes to the Group levels don't affect existing cues.

I also found the trick to turn off Smart Tag so I can save lights into the Group with zero intensity. Allowed me to clean up existing cues that were a bit randomly balanced so they're all identical.

S