Ok. How I like things addressed is such: All dimmers come first. Whether that be 50 addresses or 700, they always occupy the lowest addresses. I then determine which electrics will be on which universes. I prefer to
send only one
DMX home run unless the number of fixtures on the pipe exceeds 32, after which I might consider either sending two home runs, or throwing a splitter on the pipe. Therefore, I make sure that I have enough remaining addresses to do the whole bar. Starting with the type of
DMX fixture that is at the SR end of the pipe, I
address all of that
fixture type on that pipe sequentially. If there is more than one type of device, I do each type from SR to SL. After that, I do the next
electric US the same way. I do not like to leave gaps because many desks set the
address of new fixtures to the next available
address by default, and so it is faster to let it do the work for you.
For example, if we have a bar of 6
MAC Auras and
MAC 350s with the auras being the
pipe ends, the auras will be the first 84 addresses, and the 350s will be the 85th to 186th addresses.
In your situation, given each position has its own
universe, it is easy to
address the first type of fixtures as 1 and then the next type as the next free
address and so on.
Now there are three approaches to patching that I have heard of. Mine is to patch fixtures in a group of similar channels based on their function. For example, 1-15 is front light, 21-35 is toplight, ect. This is regardless of what the actual
fixture type is. An alternative is to patch everything 1to1, including movers. That way
channel=
address so there is no patch to confuse anyone, and less paperwork to carry. Groups and flexichannel views (or worlds) can be used to make navigation easier. The third is AxlD1234's method