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.