Another Innovator 48/96 question
- Thread starterStretch
- Start date
Colin Bishop
ValleyPoint Church AVL Tech
I'm very familiar with the innovator but am still unsure what you are looking to accomplish. What do you want your lights to do?
Stretch
Member
I'm trying to load multiple cues. Say for instance I load cues 5-5.9 into the AB faders, which 5.9 is linked back to 5.1 so it will be a continuous loop. I'd also like to load another cue simultaneously without having the delay of loading the second cue into the CD faders. It would also be another continous looped cue. Thanks for looking.
Jeff Lelko
Active Member
kicknargel
Well-Known Member
Why no macros? On these consoles, I'd often run a cue in the AB fader, which also had a macro to run another cue (effect, loop of follows, or otherwise) into the CD fader. If in order, the macro could just be [cd go], or could be [cue] xx [cd go]. To take it out, you can run a cue with the macro [cd clear].
Stretch
Member
By using macros it has to be something programmed. I don't think I can do what I'd like to do during a live show. I'd like to be able to choose multiple cues to run on one load and go, but I just don't see where it's possible. In my perfect world, I would be able to lets say...Load cue 12 and 86 and 430 then GO. I think I'm asking too much of this old gal.
Last edited:
kicknargel
Well-Known Member
Jeff Lelko
Active Member
Yeah, unfortunately you're running up against the limit of the board. I've busked many shows on an Innovator back in the day (early 2000s), and while slightly cumbersome when compared to today's offerings it can definitely be done. Some very creative programming may be needed, but definitely study up on how to use an "Effect". Putting effects on your submasters is probably the way to go. You don't get "GO Button" playback with them, but the bump buttons will still work for momentary triggering and it's better than nothing. Good luck!
kicknargel
Well-Known Member
Wait, I've been thinking ETC Express line this whole time, not Colortran Innovator. The 48/96 threw me. They're pretty similar consoles, but the Innovator is a tracking console, not preset/fade. If you click go a bunch of times, it will run multiple cues simultaneously (with go-times offset by how fast you can mash the button), and cues do not need to contain info for all channels. That said, I don't think you can load multiple at once to start simultaneously, so you're still out of luck there.
Running movers on these is cumbersome in a pre-programmed show, and more so for busking.
Running movers on these is cumbersome in a pre-programmed show, and more so for busking.
@kicknargel Fortunately I never ran a Colortran console. I heard quite a bit about them and NEVER heard anyone speak positively about any of them. Now that you're thinking about the correct console, could you auto-follow cues using 'time zero' as a means to have them run simultaneously? This was a trick that worked with many Strand consoles such as Palettes and LP90's. Depending upon syntax, you could use 'Wait zero' or 'Delay zero' with your Strand or ETC wanna be. I worked with designers who preferred 'Wait zero' to using "parts".
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.
Stretch
Member
I am running about 30 movers plus 32 LED pars and about 72 64's with this thing, so it is pretty cumbersome, especially busking every show. I'd just like to run different cues together when I feel like the songs call for it but I hate having the few seconds delay to load the CD cues after the AB cue has started. It looks tacky so I usually just stick to one cue. My cues are mostly multi part cues with different times for the movers, so I don't think pushing the go again button will do it. This has been a good console for the most part for me, but I guess it's time to move on to the 21'st century.
Stretch
Member
Jeff Lelko
Active Member
Wow... I give you serious credit for even attempting that with an Innovator!
I can now understand the kinds of things that you're probably trying to do, and the board just doesn't have the horsepower. Out of curiosity, how many channels of DMX are you filling? I remember it having 3 DMX outputs, but I seem to recall each one not being a full universe for some reason... The venue I used an Innovator at had about 60 dimmers and a pair of scanners. Every now and then I'd supplement with my own moving lights, but that's really about the most the board was designed to do. You're certainly getting your money's worth out of yours! If you're shopping for 21st century boards, I'm an owner/user of ETC's Cobalt Series (with a Congo Kid in my personal inventory) and am very happy with it. I think you'd be quite pleased with the busking capabilities of Cobalt, and of course the Eos Series is also a very popular and excellent choice.
Stretch
Member
I'm actually under 300 channels because I'm using at least 2 fixtures per device loaded and I'm inverting one side of the stage. No way would I have time to program each fixture individually...that would be a nightmare with this console. For one of the loaded devices, I'm running 6 trackspots so I'm not eating up a lot of channels, but enough for the innovator. It does show a full 1536 channels but I don't think it would handle much more than what I'm doing too well. If I'm running a cue with multiple parts, the console becomes sluggish, such as the submasters are not instantaneous by a long shot.
The ETC stuff has always been very appealing to me and may very well be in my future.
Jeff Lelko
Active Member
Nice - I had figured you must have gotten creative with device assignments. I seem to remember there being a hard limit on the number of devices you can use with the board as well, but it's been nearly a decade since the last time I touched one and I know the board's firmware was upgraded/adjusted several times. And then there was the update where you had to install a little chip in the console to supposedly help with its memory issues or something...which in my case only proceeded to overheat the unit to the point solder was melting and circuitry components were literally falling out. That was a fun one to explain!
You'll like the ETC product lineup. Aside from better moving light control you'll also have better handling of LED fixtures - something that didn't even exist in the capacity we have today back when the Innovator was launched! Best of luck with your work!
You'll like the ETC product lineup. Aside from better moving light control you'll also have better handling of LED fixtures - something that didn't even exist in the capacity we have today back when the Innovator was launched! Best of luck with your work!
kicknargel
Well-Known Member
Story time:
I'd just finished a week of tech as LD at a dinner theatre, on an Innovator. Second show day, the associate was programming a pre-show, decided he didn't like what he'd done and would revert to saved (on the floppy). Turns out the drive was bad and the file was corrupted. Lost everything. I get the panicked call and race in to program a bunch of subs blind (during the dinner) and then busk the show for the weekend. Not wanting to pay everyone to re-tech the show, we hired an IT guy who managed to edit the file on the disk and restore the show. The theatre was pissed about the IT guy's $800 bill, but got over it.
I'd just finished a week of tech as LD at a dinner theatre, on an Innovator. Second show day, the associate was programming a pre-show, decided he didn't like what he'd done and would revert to saved (on the floppy). Turns out the drive was bad and the file was corrupted. Lost everything. I get the panicked call and race in to program a bunch of subs blind (during the dinner) and then busk the show for the weekend. Not wanting to pay everyone to re-tech the show, we hired an IT guy who managed to edit the file on the disk and restore the show. The theatre was pissed about the IT guy's $800 bill, but got over it.
Similar threads
