When I was MEing a lot, I would record a
macro which preheated the lamps for a few seconds, and then let me step through them one by one at full (Always
Macro 999, in my theatres), and would use a remote to check from the
deck.
On the Expression
line, you have to trick it by recording it live, and then going back into the
Macro Editor to add the Waits and remove the "FlashOFF" command that happens when you
release the
button. It's Been a long, long time since i wrote this
macro, but it went something like CH 1-500@15%, Wait5, @05%, Wait3, CH 1, [SOFTKEY FOR FLASH] . Then go into the
Macro Editor and edit out the "Flash OFF" and Add the Wait times to the
Macro. That way the first
fixture pops on to full, and then you can just use the "+"
button to move through the Channels at full. That was an easy way to
preheat the rig, and also check every
channel individually. If I was in a
theatre that didn't have a
RFU, I'd take the time to program a Wait to the front of the
macro to give me time to get to the
stage, and then add the "+" with a wait of 3, or 4 seconds (or however long it takes you to take the note) between "+"s all the way through the full
channel count.
This basically takes just a little longer than running the
Dimmer Check one time, and then sets it up to be run easily every night.
It further has the benefit of glowing the lamps, so that if one didn't come up, it was easy to look up it's nose to confirm that the lamp was out.
If someone is familiar with the rig (or even just holding the
Magic Sheet), then they won't lose
track of the
Channel numbers.
HTH,
-Ford