1:1 patch: Do you use it?

What type of patch do you use?


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The only time that I ever patched anything was in middle school on our real old console, I don't even know what it was called as I never thought that it was something that I was really going to get very involved in. It was hardpatched with a patch board.

In high school, everything is 1:1 except for channels 95 and 96 which are at the back left and right of the house and are hardpatched. I couldn't imagine a real need to softpatch. Everything that I want to have together are on a submaster. From what I understand, the convention for newer desks are that there isn't a slider for every channel. I have a board in which I do have a slider for every channel.

On a semi-unrelated note:
I don't understand how you could function without having a slider for every channel. It would drive me nuts.

I have never had a fader for every channel. I don't see the need.

Mike
 
DSR Warm Fronts. Ch 1

Lighting Channel One is downstage right fronts, warm or from right if there are multiple of them.

That is interesting because almost all the designers I work with have channel 1 as DSL.


Also, I think that this thread needs clarification as many are confused, and I think that the OP is as well.

The common usage definition of a 1-to-1 patch is as follows: Channel 1 controls dimmer 1, channel 2 controls dimmer 2, etc. This is also known on some consoles as "Default Patch."

Since most newer installs have dimmer per circuit systems, the lack of a hard patch panel has made softpatching infinitely more important. Even on touring shows that carry their own dimmers and can choose which instruments go into which dimmers sometimes you still need to softpatch as there are many reasons why you may not be able to plug units into dimmers in a logical order or you may not have your racks addressed where you want the fixtures to have channels.

It should also be noted that there has been discussion of only having one dimmer patched into each channel. This is often something that is relatively impossible. Consider some of the following situations. A designer wants to have a pair of 2kW fresnels on the same channel, all you have are 2.4kW dimmers, so you can't put them both oh the same dimmer, so you have to softpatch the two dimmers into the same channel. Or, the LD wants two lights on booms opposite sides of the stage to be on the same channel, what do you do, run cable across the stage to twofer them, or just plug them into different dimmers and patch them together?

In terms of boards that have as many handles as dimmers. In the land of memory consoles, say the ETC Express, you can still softpatch and have a handle for every channel. Just think, you can have faders 1-5 be the frontlights for the 5 downstage areas even if those units are not connected to dimmers 1-5. Doesn't that make more sense than looking for channels 8, 12, 15, 16, and 20 to bring up those 5 lights?

I think that once again (as in the thread about the death of Express) we are seeing a real resistance to change. I am not saying that anyone need change what they are doing, if you have a system that works for you, fine. Just realize that unless you are running some old analog system you have the ability on all of today's modern consoles, to lay your channels out in a logical order. You can have all the channels for every system you use sit next to eachother, be it on the screen or on physical faders.
 
That is interesting because almost all the designers I work with have channel 1 as DSL.


Also, I think that this thread needs clarification as many are confused, and I think that the OP is as well.

The common usage definition of a 1-to-1 patch is as follows: Channel 1 controls dimmer 1, channel 2 controls dimmer 2, etc. This is also known on some consoles as "Default Patch."

Since most newer installs have dimmer per circuit systems, the lack of a hard patch panel has made softpatching infinitely more important. Even on touring shows that carry their own dimmers and can choose which instruments go into which dimmers sometimes you still need to softpatch as there are many reasons why you may not be able to plug units into dimmers in a logical order or you may not have your racks addressed where you want the fixtures to have channels.

It should also be noted that there has been discussion of only having one dimmer patched into each channel. This is often something that is relatively impossible. Consider some of the following situations. A designer wants to have a pair of 2kW fresnels on the same channel, all you have are 2.4kW dimmers, so you can't put them both oh the same dimmer, so you have to softpatch the two dimmers into the same channel. Or, the LD wants two lights on booms opposite sides of the stage to be on the same channel, what do you do, run cable across the stage to twofer them, or just plug them into different dimmers and patch them together?

In terms of boards that have as many handles as dimmers. In the land of memory consoles, say the ETC Express, you can still softpatch and have a handle for every channel. Just think, you can have faders 1-5 be the frontlights for the 5 downstage areas even if those units are not connected to dimmers 1-5. Doesn't that make more sense than looking for channels 8, 12, 15, 16, and 20 to bring up those 5 lights?

I think that once again (as in the thread about the death of Express) we are seeing a real resistance to change. I am not saying that anyone need change what they are doing, if you have a system that works for you, fine. Just realize that unless you are running some old analog system you have the ability on all of today's modern consoles, to lay your channels out in a logical order. You can have all the channels for every system you use sit next to eachother, be it on the screen or on physical faders.

Good post. I never think of soft/hard patch in my lighting designer life because I don't care. Seeing as how I have not been an ME in some time, I guess I don't think about these things. Channel 1 has all the warm frontlight for DSR (if it is 1 light on 1 dimmer or 4 lights on 2 dimmers, as it sometimes is in my larger plots).

Yeah, I don't see why you wouldn't use soft patch to make your and your programmers life easier.

In the end, as a designer it doesn't really matter what is happening at the rack or in the console as long as what you call is what you see, right?

By the way, at least when I was an ME back in the day and down here in the South, 1:1 patch always meant hard patch or dimmer per circuit. Just an interesting thought.

Mike
 
I usually just group my lights by channel number, and then create scenes in my subs, just adusting the channel numbers as I go. Therefore: Zone Patch. However, the reason I group my channels toegether based on their area even though they are zone patched, is so it is easier to find.

Plus: Don't you use more cable if you 1:1 patch, having to jump to certain dimmers. Or do you then rely too much on your paperwork?

Finally, it truly doesn't matter how you plug in your lights as long as they come on when you expect them to. That is why god created the soft patch.
 
Yeah, it would be silly to run a cable so that the light that is the warm front on DSR is actually plugged into circuit 1. I could care less what dimmer/circuit it is in as long as it is in channel 1.

Mike
 
In terms of boards that have as many handles as dimmers. In the land of memory consoles, say the ETC Express, you can still softpatch and have a handle for every channel. Just think, you can have faders 1-5 be the frontlights for the 5 downstage areas even if those units are not connected to dimmers 1-5. Doesn't that make more sense than looking for channels 8, 12, 15, 16, and 20 to bring up those 5 lights?

In my opinion, that's what the submasters are for. If you'd softpatch everything, then what would you ever need submasters for?

Also, for programming, I just use the submasters to set things. I don't know if not every board allows you to do that, but that's what I do.
 
The real question is, is ch. 1 DSL, DSR, USL, or USR?

Channel 1 is always DSL front light for me. Works the same as instrument numbering, which also goes from SL to SR.

I always softpatch everything, but I almost never assign more than one dimmer to a channel. I just take an arbitrary dimmer number and give it an understandable channel number so it's easier to remember. But then I go and program an incomprehensible number of groups, so I'm rarely calling up individual channels except for single-unit specials. When I have time, I like to go through and play with my plot as much as I can - just bringing up colors and such to see what I can do with it. When I find something I like, I record it as a sub. While I may not actually need that in the show, it does help me to plot and design better. I also record a couple of subs before the show opens with some basic looks, so if something gets screwed up with the cues somehow, the amateur board operator will be able to quickly get light on the stage. I usually record some Inhibits for any work we might need to do while the house is open, but other than that I don't use subs nearly as much as I used to.
 
In my opinion, that's what the submasters are for. If you'd softpatch everything, then what would you ever need submasters for?

Also, for programming, I just use the submasters to set things. I don't know if not every board allows you to do that, but that's what I do.

See, but you miss the point. Yes, subs are great for brining up a group of channels at once and they don't care if they are channels 1-5 or 5, 10, 11, 13, 15. However, from a programming standpoint if you have all your systems patched to consecutive channels Then you always know where every light is without having to look it up or remember a series of random numbers.

I think I said in an earlier post, think about it this way: You have a stage that you light with 5 areas across. So you make channels 1-5 your front light, 11-15 your backlight, 21-25 side from SL, etc. Now you always know that any channel with a 1 (1, 11, 21, etc) will hit area 1, any channel with a 2 (2, 12, 22, etc) lights area 2, etc. You also know from the 10's digit what type of light you are turning on (side, front, back, etc). Then people will group all their specials together and all their practicals.

So, you might make a sub or group for each system, you also might make subs or groups for each area. So you might have a sub with channels 1-5 for all the frontlights, and you might have a sub with channels 1, 11, 21 so you can just turn on area 1.
 
You also know from the 10's digit what type of light you are turning on (side, front, back, etc). Then people will group all their specials together and all their practicals.

The light bulb just went on about the OFFSET key in Ion and zoning.

3[Thru]93[Offset]10 yields 3,13,23,33,43... or all the lights aimed into zone 3.

I'm not sure I'll use it but thanks for the insight.
 
Basically never use 1:1, I re-patch for every show.
I find it much nicer to program the show with a specific patch, even with a magic sheet and plot infront of me.
Especially when I'm just the LD and not operating the console, which hasen't happened for awhile.

And why not? You can get a lot out of your console that way.
 
I like to organize the board in a way that I can remember things without having to look them up on a hookup every time. For example i'll put an area A front warm on channel 1, and and area A front cool on channel 11. Also, we have more dimmers than channels on our board. The board is an ETC Insight with 72 channels.
 
I didn't vote, because the option for me isn't listed.
Background: I do major music tours, large event television, and some corporate work professionally.
Since most of my gigs are predominantly moving lights, most fixtures are patched by type, usually from DSR to DSL working upstage.

Current tour
Movers:
VL3000 & 3500 spots: 1-16
PRG Bad Boys: 21-25
VL1000TS:31-38
VL3500 washes: 41-52
VL500s: 61-68

Conventionals:
Ministrips: 101-148
Nila lights: 151-156

LEDs:
ColorBlaze 201-272

Video Stuff:
DL-3's start at 701
2x Mbox media servers start at 801 and 901


As for numbering direction... a little history.
Early lighting used the DSL-> DSR because the controls (often resistance dimmers) were back stage. Standing at a resistance piano board and looking downstage, the natural flow of english reading goes from left to right, top to bottom, and the DSL to DSR, DS to US matches. Once control moved out into the house, many changed their numbering to match; USR to USL, Upstage to Downstage.
I ocassionally to see plots with both of these methods of numbering, usually with traditional, conventional only theaters.
Most of the big production shows these days tend to number according to fixture type, going DSR to DSL, downstage to upstage. They keep the console programmers left to right sequence (DSR to DSL) and start downstage to keep the key lights in the low numbers/ single digits, to make it easier to remember, and quicker to access, since these are the fixtures that often need more frequent adjustment.

Just my bit of trivia
RB
 
I almost always work with mobile systems so I usually softpatch the board 1:1 dimmers to channels and have the dimmer racks and distributed dimmers located in in the logical positions on the rig. I select the DMX addresses on the dimmers to allow me This allows me to look at the rig and depending on the fixture position on the pipe I know the channel number on the console. Channel 1 is always FOH pipe 1 position, FOH pipe 1 position 2 is channel 2 and so on. Once I have finished the FOH positions I start at stage pipe 1 position 1. This is my preferred approach based on longstanding practice that works for me. I will always program the cues even for a one night show unless there is no opportunity to rehearse in which case I will either run of Subs or for a small choral type concert I will use a simple two preset board.

Having said all of this as a show develops I will softpatch to easily include changes and hardpatch can also be included. It depends on how developed the Director's blocking and ideas were formed at the time I did the lighting design.

The key I believe is to be flexible and do what works with the gig, the space, the equipment and the time available to make the show work.
 
Patching

Just curious, I was wondering how everyone patched there lights 1 to 1 or if not what do you soft patch. For a show im doing at my high school we have 9 areas. i was gunna basically soft patch the lights for area 1 into channels 10-19. i have 5 lights so far per area: front,sl,sr, down and back. I was leaving 1-9 open for the stairs to our stage and the two platforms that we have.

[Edit by mod: This post has been moved here from another thread.]
 
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...I was going to basically soft patch the lights for area 1 into channels 10-19. I have 5 lights so far per area: front,sl,sr, down and back. ...
I would only assign channel numbers that way if I were positive I would only be lighting one area at a time.

Far more often, the entire stage is going to be lit, and thus having the purpose of the lights be on consecutive channel numbers makes more sense. Icewolf explained it pretty well:
...I think I said in an earlier post, think about it this way: You have a stage that you light with 5 areas across. So you make channels 1-5 your front light, 11-15 your backlight, 21-25 side from SL, etc. Now you always know that any channel with a 1 (1, 11, 21, etc) will hit area 1, any channel with a 2 (2, 12, 22, etc) lights area 2, etc. You also know from the 10's digit what type of light you are turning on (side, front, back, etc). Then people will group all their specials together and all their practicals. ...
One could do the reverse, where the tens digit determines the area, and the ones digit the angle/purpose, but as I said before, if lighting the entire stage, it's easier to take all the backlight down by typing 11>15 [-10%], than 12+22+32+42+52 [-10%]. Also it's quite forseeable that all the frontlight may be at the same level, but rare that all the lights for area one would be the same, so having consecutive channels by purpose rather than area makes initial level setting go faster.

Use of Groups helps overcome the limitations of both approaches, but you're always going to be in rehearsal searching for that one light that is too bright or too dim, and whatever method that allows you to remember that number is the right method for you.
 
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Channel 1 is DSL for me, and my channeling always starts in a _1. So if I had fifteen acting areas and two systems of front light, DSL left is 1 and 21 for instance.

I worked in a high school last year where they required a soft and a hard patch. I just put the console into 1:1 to make the hard patch easier.
 
At the theatre that I work in we have 136 circuits that are hard wired to 136 dimmers and the board has 256 channels so I soft patch dimmer 1 to channel 1 and dimmer 2 to channel 2 and so on .... And on the board I have 48 sub masters (LOOKS) and unlimited number of pages of subs so I find it easier to make subs (LOOKS) than to mess with the patch all the time. I know where the circuits/dimmers are through out the house and doing it on the subs I can but any light on what ever sub I want and of course even multiple subs

FOH 2
Circuits 1 to 24

FOH 1
Circuits 25 to 48

Stage floor
Circuits 49 to 68

House Lights
69 70 71 76

Balconey
72 73 74 75

1st Ele.
Circuits 77 to 100

2nd Ele.
Circuits 101 to 112

3rd Ele.
Circuits 113 to 124

4th Ele.
Circuits 125 to 136
 
I am the ME at a fairly large community theatre. We do 10 to 12 shows a year on our main stage, and 3 to 4 in our blackbox. We use a variety of designers, from various age groups and backgrounds. Several of the older designers prefered the DSL to DSR numbering, but after several years of working with me, they are all now using the DSR to DSL numbering.
The 1 to 1 patch is useful during focus, but we now do the focus with a modified adj Dr. DMX, which works completely by dimmer number. As I wired most of the theatre, I easily have memorized every position. For our shows, we softpatch new for eavery show according to the designers plot. They always leave the dimmer number column empty, and I patch nearest dimmer to instrument.
As our lighting pipes and positions were created over many different years and a number of different dimmer racks running different areas of the theatre, the numbering of our dimmers is less than linear or logical. If we were to use a 1 to 1 patch, I would be the only person who would understand where the instrument would come up when a given channel was requested, and it would be a reach for me.
We have no roadshows coming through our house, so there is no application for a rep plot. We have 230 dimmers, but they come from one large EDI rack (120 dimmers), but all of the rest are dimmer packs or racks, I have manufactured, and range from 4 to 16 dimmers to a rack or pack. The larger ones being permanently located and the smaller ones portable. It makes for some very deversified dimmer numbering locations.
 
Some patching thoughts for newer consoles, namely an Ion - I.E. things I'm learning about channels layout:

1) On the RFR, Park mode allows multiple addresses (DMX channels/dimmers) to be called up. Thus you can focus with NO channel to dimmer patch configured if so desired, or 1:1 (You can do this on Express as well, FWIW). Using Address Next/Last screws up the syntax and button pressing as any button pressed while using Address Next/Last - such as focusing a position that has sequential addresses, turns off the address. Thus the operator, at some point, cannot use Address Next/Last but instead needs to simply use + to combine addresses. This gets tedious as it's a lot of button pressing. So, after we (I) focus the first set of units - say the first 6 in a 6 color Bax set, I have them switch to Live mode and call up channels and use RemDim. So channel patch THEN does come into play.

2) If doing a live show with no cues and using the fader wings for busking, I am slowwwly getting used to the fact that Ion/Congo fader wings are in groups of 10 faders, not 12 as on Express. Thus it makes some sense to set up channels as other then 1:1 and to plan on not breaking a color group - say Yellow DC, Y DL/R, Y UC, Y UL/R between/across 10 fader groups. Thus I will skip faders 19 and 20 as example and move stuff to fader 21 as a start for a group. This is something I have to keep in mind in Lightwright as well, as the Ch to Dim patch is generated in LW and sent to Ion. I also keep in mind the fader wing configuration when assigning channels to specials, such as our MC "pre-show speech", which I dump to Channel 40 or 80, as that's the last fader on a wing and the first thing I might activate. Ion/Eos/Element allows a quick bulk configure Ch 1 to Sub 1, etc... and Sub 1 to Fader 1, for manual channel access.

3) Ion/Eos and I assume Element has a great feature called "Patched Channels" when viewing channels on a screen. It basically only shows you the channels you have patched to dimmers or ML's/Scrollers etc... and IMMENSELY un-clutters the screen, especially if you patch/assign the ML's in an upper channel range. I tend to put mine at 251 or 301, which keeps channels 1-250 available as conventionals. This allows an import of ASCII cues from any Express console, whose maximum channel count was 250 and seemingly is highest common channel count I see. Using Ion's "Patched Channel" view sometimes allows the ML channels to be in view with upwards of 90 or so conventional channels as well.

Food for thought.

Steve Bailey
Brooklyn College
 
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