ETC element fader wing

[BC Theatre Guy]

Recently disappointed to discover that ETC element is not compatible with ETC fader wings. I can't imagine there could be another option but thought I would ask. I know about the virtual faders but a fader bank would have helped hugely. We have outgrown our ETC Element 40 which was purchased before I arrived.

 

[sk8rsdad]

I guess ETC figured 40 physical faders ought to be enough for anybody.

It ought to be possible to network with an Element client and attach a fader wing to the client, but that seems like an expensive option. It may be time to revisit your workflow. Have you exhausted all 300 subs and/or 120 channels that can be mapped to the 40 faders? Are you familiar with the {Page Subs} softkey?

 

[Dionysus]

You used all 40 submasters, I can see that depending on your uses. I can't say I've EVER used 40 submasters while using the element. Yeah ETC never thought anyone who would be using an element would need more than 60 faders, most would never use 40. Most shows I do on the element have usually between 2 and 10 submasters, and mostly cues. Shows I busk in that venue I usually need between 5 and 30 subs.

I imagine if as sk8rsdad suggested you look at your workflow you can either pair down submasters or put submasters you need at particular times onto different pages. With 300 subs I very much doubt you will ever run out.

Are you mostly busking (live, not with recorded cues) with the console? Are you using effects on submaster faders (why manually flip though 2, or 4 subs to create an effect when it can do it for you)? Are you using mostly intelligent fixtures or conventional lights?

 

[MRW Lights]

I was going to say the same as above and add that your use of the phrase "outgrown the console" in this case is kind of counter intuitive. In the sense that your next logical step in that family would be an ION, it inherently comes without faders. Even an EOS, Cobalt or GIO would have less physical faders in comparison to the element. I have a 1x20 Fader Wing on my ION... more often than not it has 3-4 programmed faders... House Lights, Work Lights, Haze Inhibitor and Conventional Inhibitor (Old School version of Highlight). I've come to lovingly call my inhibitor my cool down fader. I use it these days mostly for breaks and long winded notes so that I can drop to LEDs only and not roast everyone and I like to pretend that I'm saving lamp life.

 

[BC Theatre Guy]

We do a large variety of types of shows, many of them without a lot of prep time and technical rehearsal. Color and effects (like those you would see in a nightclub) have become a popular part of our shows. So having physical submasters with an effect ready to go permanently is extremely convenient. I could easily fill 60 right now. I use recorded cues for plays and musicals but without proper rehearsal they aren't practical. Moving the submasters as Dionysus suggests looks like the best solution. Thanks for the input everyone.

 

[Dionysus]

We do a large variety of types of shows, many of them without a lot of prep time and technical rehearsal. Color and effects (like those you would see in a nightclub) have become a popular part of our shows. So having physical submasters with an effect ready to go permanently is extremely convenient. I could easily fill 60 right now. I use recorded cues for plays and musicals but without proper rehearsal they aren't practical. Moving the submasters as Dionysus suggests looks like the best solution. Thanks for the input everyone.

Yeah I'd take a look at your needs sit down and play with making submasters on different pages, and of course look at options making Magic Sheets. I think that a lot of what you want to do you can achieve with magic sheets and/or direct selects in conjunction with your submasters. There are a LOT of really useful things you can do with Magic Sheets, worth playing with.

 

[Malabaristo]

If you haven't seen it already, this video from ETC's last CUE conference may be of interest to you:

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It has some good tips on how to set up a showfile for easy busking with Eos family consoles. Of course, some of it won't apply to the reduced feature set of an Element, but there's still quite a bit to take away from it.

 

[jmcgowantech]

Is the rig primarily conventional or automated? If automated consider the use of touch screen monitors. We run 2 ELO touch screens with our element. I use palettes for color, position, and beam in for all my automated fixtures while controlling intensity with inhibitive faders. I also run presets off screens. It frees up a lot of my fader space. I run a EOS for most of my "punt" shows but the concept is the same. I use this same work flow on the element. The only time I put every all my parameters on faders are when I have guest LDs who doesn't know the console.

 

[Matt Davidson]

Going to second the use of Magic Sheets. Take a while to program but once you have it done it's going to change your world as far as ease of use. You can have multiple ones too depending on needs.

Another thing I've been using because I'd love to have physical encoders but alas it's not going to happen on the Element is OSCRfr. This program is about as game changing as using magic sheets. You get encoder wheels, extra submasters and pretty much everything your board can do thats as portable as you can get. You need a Ipad of course but you can also justify getting one of those since they're able to do a bunch of other things anyway. So I could see maybe switching over your physical monitors to effects and various macros and buttons programmed in magic sheets and then using the submaster page on the OSCRfr to control banks of lights. There is likely a bunch of different ways to use it really. Just need to sit down and figure out a workflow that makes sense in your situation.

http://www.alienstagecraft.com/