Controlling Conventional Lights

[operajosh]

Hi,

Is it possible to control conventional light through dimmer packs using the Xpress 512? I was told it was when I purchased the dongle, but I cannot find any instructions on how to do that.

Also, if anyone can point me to threads about using the Xpress 512 to run a traditional theater program (mix of LEDs and conventional lights), that would be very helpful. I've been through about 4 hours of tutorials thus far. I'm looking for the ability to have a "Go" button to move from cue to cue. Thanks,

[JohnRichards]

Hi,
Just create parcans for the traditional lights. As long as your dimmer pack has a dmx input it should work fine.
I am quite involved in theatre work, and I use the TimeLine for my cueing. I just insert a Pause just before I need the scene to change.
John

[operajosh]

Thanks! So I should create individual instruments instead of a dimmer pack? (I see that is an option.)

[JohnRichards]

Yes, it is pointless to have a dimmer pack as a fixture, as it does not send a beam in 3-D view. I always create a fixture for the actual light connected to each channel of the dimmer pack.
John

[Earl Harvey]

There is an "Ungroup" channels in the Steps for "splitting up" a Dimmer pack... keep an eye on it...

[operajosh]

Thanks for the help. I've got the conventional lights under control. I've watched a few more tutorials now. Does anyone know of a tutorial kind of specifically tailored for lighting a theatrical production? I'm having a hard time figuring out the best way to run a show. I somewhat understand using the timeline with Pause. What screen do you end up running the show from? "Live"? Would it work to have many scenes on one page and just click through those in order?

Thanks,

JS

[JohnRichards]

Hi JS,
It just depends on the complexity of the show.
I have scenes that light the stage back left, back right,front left, front right, foh left, foh middle, foh right, and each of these scenes are various levels, o%,15%,25%,40%,50%,60%,75%,85%,100%.
For the simple shows I just create a "Cue" macro button which will activate various of the above.
For complex, I layer the scenes in timeline.
These are all on the Live page.
John

[zkflow]

dimmer pack... program it and the you can use the master fades with a midi controller... or it depends what you want to do