Control/Dimming Can't figure out how to control movers on express 48/96

I am the technical director for my high school's theatre company, and we are putting up phantom of the opera as this years musical. We are tying to run 2 studio color 250s on our etc express 48/96 without interfering with our other fixtures. As currently the studio colors repatch dimmers already being used for stage lighting for its own use. Is there a way to prevent this? And how could we optimize our setup if possible.
 
I just read through the 3 of them, thank you for the links but we still have a problem. We've managed to patch the movers in so there is basic functionality, but The channels used to control the light sort of hijacked the dimmers to our top lights, so controlling the mover raises or lowers the top lights respectively. We can't change what dimmer the top lights are on, and the dimmers they are on are spaced out so no matter where we put the mover (dimmer wise) it hijacks something
 
I just read through the 3 of them, thank you for the links but we still have a problem. We've managed to patch the movers in so there is basic functionality, but The channels used to control the light sort of hijacked the dimmers to our top lights, so controlling the mover raises or lowers the top lights respectively. We can't change what dimmer the top lights are on, and the dimmers they are on are spaced out so no matter where we put the mover (dimmer wise) it hijacks something


It actually sounds like you know what your problem is. You are going to have to move the patch of some of the dimmers in order to accommodate the Studio Colors, and if you can't do that you are just going to have to resign yourself to not being able to use some of your dimmers.

I know you can't change the dimmers the top lights are on (plugged in to) but perhaps you can rearrange the patch?

How many dimmers do you have?
 
...We can't change what dimmer the top lights are on, and the dimmers they are on are spaced out so no matter where we put the mover (dimmer wise) it hijacks something
True, you may not be able to change the top lights' dimmers, but you CAN change what control channel to which those dimmers are softpatched. The Express 48/96 allows 192 max. channels. So patch your two Studio Color 250s (they use 15 channels/"dimmers"/outputs each) to CHANNELS 163 to 192. This leaves control channels 1 thru 162 open for "real" dimmers. I suspect the concept of using an other-than-1:1 patch is foreign to you; perhaps this thread will help: http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/lighting-electrics/10703-1-1-patch-do-you-use.html . A dimmer need not be solely by itself on a channel, and unused dimmers need not waste your valuable, limited in quantity channels. This is done all the time, as your Express only allows 192 channels [(1>96) on channel faders, and (97>192) accessible only via the keypad] but 1024 DMX channels/"dimmers"/outputs . Tell us exactly how many dimmers you have, which ones are in use, and we'll help with a refined channel layout.
 
We have 96 dimmers of which all but 23 are in use.
Those 23 are spread out fairly evenly across the last 60 or so dimmers. I can put up a more detailed list when I have access to the patch tomorrow.
 
We have 96 dimmers of which all but 23 are in use.
Those 23 are spread out fairly evenly across the last 60 or so dimmers. I can put up a more detailed list when I have access to the patch tomorrow.
No need. You actually have plenty of "room." You can leave dimmers 1>96 on control channels (1>96), [though I'd still investigate how softpatch allows one to place things in a more orderly fashion], and patch and address your movers at 1/97 and 1/112 (provided they are on the same universe as your dimmers, which it sounds like they are) and to control channels (97-111) and (112-126). You'll find having all of the parameters of the movers, especially NIPs, are not very useful on the channel faders anyway. Remember you can also assign say the movers' intensity channel to a submaster or two.
 
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Bannergrunt,
If you can understand softpatch, it will help you enormously.
When looking at these first 96 dimmers, think about the lights that are plugged into them. Which dimmers have your Front light system(s)? You may have 2 different Front systems (one in a warm color, one in a cool color) You may want to patch these into CHANNELs 1-10, and 11-20 (or however many fixtures you have in that system). Then side lights go in a different set of channels, etcetera. If you have lights that always come on together, you can patch them to the same channel.

BEFORE YOU START:
Save your current show, so that you do not lose your current patch, if you mess it up. Here's how:
[SETUP] [3. DISK FUNCTIONS] [ENTER] [1 (to disk) ] [ENTER] [ENTER]

Then, when you can have the theater (er for the space, re for the art) to yourself for a few minutes, go dimmer by dimmer to see what fixture is plugged into each dimmer.
[DIM] [1] [@] [FL] [ENTER], then [+] or [-] through the dimmers to see which fixtures come on. WRITE IT DOWN!!!
Once you know which light is in each dimmer, you can figure out which lights are in each system, and how it makes sense to control them. Then, it is time to make your own patch.
FIRST: get a fresh disk (if you can still get floppies), and label it with your show name.
Next: format the disk [SETUP] [3] [ENTER] [FORMAT DISK] [ENTER] [ENTER (confirm)]
Then...input your own patch.
If you need help with this, please email, and I will talk you through it. I used to teach this to students from Middle School through College. It is not too hard, and a properly organized patch will make your life so much easier, when it comes time to write cues.
email: fsellers (at) chauvetlighting DOT com.
 
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Thank you all for the help, we managed to get the studio colors working completely with no interference, and even got the techno beams we were iffy about to work as well.
 
Thank you all for the help, we managed to get the studio colors working completely with no interference, and even got the techno beams we were iffy about to work as well.

And I hope you did learn something cool about your console, namely the soft patch portion?
When you spend time & think about the possibilities of soft patching your lighting rig, you'll maybe see a benefit giving your lights a different number than the dimmer number. It can be helpful to some to have the ability to organize those channels in ways that are convienient and easy to remember...
As an example I know an LD who always has the hosts' key light in channel 1, and so forth.
Hope that makes sense.
 
Yeah I did learn quite a bit, mostly about dimmers and channel management(like you can patch dimmers that don't have a physical dimmer to movers) though I already knew how to soft patch albiet I didn't know what it was called and I agree that it is incredibly useful.
 

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