Trigger finger

[beyond the blue]

Hi, I am a complete novice to lighting so what I'm about to say might not even make sense. I'm just learning how to stand in for others running a stage show using the Zero 88 FLX S48 board. All the cues are saved on the master channel/slider, so all I'm doing is pressing the go button at the right time. As I'm very nervous about getting it wrong (and we are still only rehearsal stage) I keep double pressing the GO button and skipping a cue. This means using the mouse to highlight the missed cue to turn it yellow then hitting GO to activate the cue and by the time I've done this the action has moved on and I'm way behind. Finally got to the question, Is there a quick way to get back to the missed cue without using the mouse or touch pad, like a one press back button?

 

Edited September 16, 2021 by beyond the blue

[Edward Z88]

Hi @beyond the blue,

Welcome to the Zero 88 Forum.

1 hour ago, beyond the blue said:

Is there a quick way to get back to the missed cue without using the mouse or touch pad, like a one press back button?

On FLX S48 consoles, there is not a dedicated Back button. However, you can configure the GO button, so that if you hold SHIFT and tap the GO button, you pause your cue transitions or go back to the previous cue. To do this, you can hold the SETUP key, and tap the Master Playback's button. This will open the Playback Settings. The bottom row of options are the button functions. If you hold the Z/SHIFT key, you will see the current shifted option indicated. Keeping the Z/Shift key held, tap the "Pause" option, and then release the Z/Shift key. You can then press OK on the Playback Settings.

Now, if you are mid-way through a cue transition, SHIFT + GO will Pause the transition. Another press of SHIFT + GO, will Go back to the previous cue.

I hope this helps, if you have any questions please let me know.

Edward

[beyond the blue]

1 hour ago, Edward Z88 said:

Hi @beyond the blue,

Welcome to the Zero 88 Forum.

On FLX S48 consoles, there is not a dedicated Back button. However, you can configure the GO button, so that if you hold SHIFT and tap the GO button, you pause your cue transitions or go back to the previous cue. To do this, you can hold the SETUP key, and tap the Master Playback's button. This will open the Playback Settings. The bottom row of options are the button functions. If you hold the Z/SHIFT key, you will see the current shifted option indicated. Keeping the Z/Shift key held, tap the "Pause" option, and then release the Z/Shift key. You can then press OK on the Playback Settings.

Now, if you are mid-way through a cue transition, SHIFT + GO will Pause the transition. Another press of SHIFT + GO, will Go back to the previous cue.

I hope this helps, if you have any questions please let me know.

Edward

Thank you.

[martin-144]

Hi,

sometimes I am nervous on the Go button too, especially in first night performances. My tip is to really press the button firmly and release after you are sure it has been pressed. It will not trigger more than one cue, if you fear that 🙂

Martin

[kgallen]

My technique is to ‘stay away’ from the button by resting my two forefingers on the case below the Go, and only move them up to click then move away again. Hovering over the button is fraught with danger!

[Jon Hole]

You might find the more clicky buttons under the Multi-Function Faders are less easy to accidentally press? If so, you could copy the cues over to one of those playbacks instead (to do this really quickly - press COPY, then press the Master Playback GO button, then press the GO button of an empty playback on the left hand side).

[kgallen]

For clarity I’m not suggesting there is anything wrong with the Go button on FLX - the double width non-clicky cherry key is the correct choice. I’ve used my ‘technique’ (such as it is!) on all consoles from all manufacturers. I do the same for any go/play button. 

[Jon Hole]

I had another thought last night... which would really upset me as an operator, but may be helpful to @martin-144 (we're all differnet!).

You could set up the GO button so that you have to press SHIFT and GO together to progress the cue.

Hold SETUP and press the GO button. Change the "Button Function" to "Flash" (so long as the fader is at full, this means it won't do anything). Now hold down SHIFT and change the "Button Function" to "Go (Fade)".

[martin-144]

Hey Jon,

thanks for your suggestion, but this would also really upset me and I would forget to hold Shift and make it even worse.
My technique works well for me so far. Don't hover your finger over the Go button is a good tip 🙂

Martin

[Ed75]

On 9/28/2021 at 10:43 PM, kgallen said:

My technique is to ‘stay away’ from the button by resting my two forefingers on the case below the Go, and only move them up to click then move away again. Hovering over the button is fraught with danger!

 

On 9/29/2021 at 9:08 AM, kgallen said:

For clarity I’m not suggesting there is anything wrong with the Go button on FLX - the double width non-clicky cherry key is the correct choice. I’ve used my ‘technique’ (such as it is!) on all consoles from all manufacturers. I do the same for any go/play button. 

Fully agree with you. It's the way to go, and stay cool 😉 Last show I did, (played 22 times) at a point contained 6 cues "snapping" in 0 secs, and the timing between them depended on the actors on stage. The following que after the 6th was a "snap" Blackout......  So you can imagine that nothing need to go wrong there. Every 22 shows spot-on 🤓

(of course I could have put an autofollow-with-wait time pointcue in between "6" and "7" showing the lighting state of "6" and giving me some safety, but hey, keeps a man awake 😋

[kgallen]

9 hours ago, Ed75 said:

 

Fully agree with you. It's the way to go, and stay cool 😉 Last show I did, (played 22 times) at a point contained 6 cues "snapping" in 0 secs, and the timing between them depended on the actors on stage. The following que after the 6th was a "snap" Blackout......  So you can imagine that nothing need to go wrong there. Every 22 shows spot-on 🤓

(of course I could have put an autofollow-with-wait time pointcue in between "6" and "7" showing the lighting state of "6" and giving me some safety, but hey, keeps a man awake 😋

Nice to ‘meet’ you Ed, welcome. Hope to see you around on the forum! Kevin