New to Moving heads

[postie1717]

Hey All,
So I am a high senior making my first real attempt at programming with moving lights. I am rather skilled at programming conventional lights, however I have never programmed with movers as they are not apart of our typical inventory.
I have gotten the hang out how to go about making the lights do as I want, however I have no idea how I'm supposed to save those looks into cues. I am running a Pearl Tiger Expert, again not something I'm very familiar with. I know many people talk about using cue stacks along with busking, however I would prefer to be able to run everything as cues if possible as once I get the programming done I will most likely turn the board over to a light op since I am also SMing the show. If I have to busk then can anyone give me some tips for the best way to do this.
It is for a variety show so there are a ton of different acts, 20 or so. I am running 6 movers FOH and 4 on stage plus a conventional leko rig FOH and conventional fresnels and strips on the electrics.
Thank you very much for any help you can provide.
Mark

 

[VL5]

I do a lot of variety shows, Often I do not have any rehearsal times, This is what I do on a HOG 2. Which I don't know much about a Pearl Tiger but I program colors into a playback, Different color combos in a playback, different movements / Effects in a playback and then Ill do all intensity on playbacks and position and color palettes.

 

[bishopthomas]

I use a Pearl 2008 and do 100% busking for concerts and such (did a variety show last week). It's a great console for this but you might want to spend some time behind it with the manual if at all possible. If not just read the manual a couple of times.

So, I'm assuming you've got the basics down: patching, selecting, controlling them via the attributes buttons? I am also assuming you know how to save a cue to the playbacks. Don't worry about cue stacks (theatre mode on the Avo). I usually do what VL5 suggested: playbacks contain movements and effects. I like to use palettes for colors, gobos, and positions. I usually do a playback channel for intensity (in your case I would put DS ML and US ML intensity on separate playbacks). For conventionals I would do N/C, each DS color, each MS color, and each US color on separate playbacks.

So that's my layout logic, now how to make it happen... To save only the attributes to a playback you will need to change the recording mode. Make a circle (select fixutres, shape generator, playback a shape, circle). Press Memory/Cue. On the screen at the top right will be "Record Mode" displayed followed by (probably) "Fixture." Press the Softkey (I think it's A) to change that to "Channel," select "Pan/Tilt" in the attributes, then hit the Swop button of the playback to which you want to record. The record by channel only works on changed attributes so make sure you change the value (even if to change it back) if you want it to be stored.

Now, storing palettes is similar but quite a bit simpler. Select the fixtures, make your changes (say color), hit the Store Palette button, then select the palette button (it's grey) to store it to. Make sure you have the attribute selected that you want to store and that you have made changes. Now to recall the palette you need to be in record mode or run takeover, select the fixtures, select the attribute, then just press the grey palette button to recall the stored setting. Again, I usually do colors, gobos, and positions on palettes. Just make sure when you're storing and recalling them that you have selected (and changed) the proper attribute button.

Oh, the Color attribute applies to all CMY settings when you're saving/recalling palettes and recording by channel.

If you have any trouble please feel free to post here, PM me, or call me (PM me and I'll send you my number) if you get stuck at the last minute.

Thomas

 

[bishopthomas]

I just realized that you could potentially have an unskilled operator manning the helm. If so make it easy and just create looks on the playbacks rather than using palettes. Just record by channel for colors and keep the intensities in with your movement cues (record by fixture). Good luck!

 

[postie1717]

Thanks for the advice. I will have my laptop with me for trouble shooting during rehearsal tomorrow through Wednesday and will be sure to post how things go.
I have one thought on using solely the playback, if i do this I will have lights on as the fixtures move into position,which typically would not be an issue, but the director likes to use true blackouts and will most likely find it annoying to see the lights move into position as the act starts. The FOH fixtures will be used as mix of washes and specials. And for certain acts there will be a decent amount of movement between where they stop and where they are when they turn on. Is there anyway to have tracking prior to the playback?
That was one of my main reasons for using cue stacks, while this show is much like a concert, I can guarantee the director will not be happy if he can tell a difference between each show. He doesn't understand the art behind lighting and really just thinks we are there to make the people on stage look good.
Mark

 

[waynehoskins]

It should be pretty easy to have the board do "mark" cues (may also be labeled Move In Black or something to that effect). Many can automatically do that now; if not, you can write your own mark cues. If you're not sure where the auto-mark button is on your board, marking them yourself always works. The upside of that too is that you can make it mark or not mark whatever you want, if you want some to mark but some to move while on.

 

[soundlight]

You can make the Pearl do a theater stack. It is probably the last way that you'd ever see anyone use a Pearl since it's designed for busking, but you can make a single cuelist on the board if the performance will be repeatable.

Also, there is a series of youtube videos from Avolites that cover basic use of the Pearl. There are some for the regular Pearl and some for Expert/Titan, the Expert/Titan ones do not apply to your console.

 

[bishopthomas]

The director wants each show to look exactly the same? Kind of unreal expectations for a busked show. In that case I would just create "looks" on the playbacks, every act gets a fader. This is the only way to make it repeatable (really, don't worry about the cue stack feature on the Avo). Use "Record Stage" to record the entire look. There's a softkey for it after you hit the Memory/Cue button. Put a N/C wash on the first fader for your between act banter (intros, etc). You can bump the other faders just slightly to put the movers in position and it shouldn't be noticeable.