Strand 520i - How do I release captured channels back to subs or playback?

[etskinner]

Newbie light op here looking for some help. I've searched these forums and the internet, to no avail.

I'll start out with channels controlled by playback, say channel 1 is set to full in cue 5 and I've gone to cue 5. Then lets say I have channel 2 in sub 1 and I've brought the sub up to 50. So I have 1@FL and 2@50 due to playback and sub. Then I type 1+2@80. When I go to release the channels (1+2@* is my best guess as to how to do it), the values still stay at 80 unless I go to another cue or bring sub 1 past 80 (I'm guessing this is because highest takes precedence in this case).

If I understand right, ETC boards allow you to "release" the channel from control, so I guess I'm looking for the parallel feature on Strand.

The lighting designer I'm currently work with likes to work in LightPallete, if that helps things.

Thanks for any and all help!

 

[icewolf08]

Newbie light op here looking for some help. I've searched these forums and the internet, to no avail.

I'll start out with channels controlled by playback, say channel 1 is set to full in cue 5 and I've gone to cue 5. Then lets say I have channel 2 in sub 1 and I've brought the sub up to 50. So I have 1@FL and 2@50 due to playback and sub. Then I type 1+2@80. When I go to release the channels (1+2@* is my best guess as to how to do it), the values still stay at 80 unless I go to another cue or bring sub 1 past 80 (I'm guessing this is because highest takes precedence in this case).

If I understand right, ETC boards allow you to "release" the channel from control, so I guess I'm looking for the parallel feature on Strand.

The lighting designer I'm currently work with likes to work in LightPallete, if that helps things.

Thanks for any and all help!

In all, there is no function on the 500 Series (or the ETC Obsession II) that is anything like "release" on the Express(ion) line. If your goal is to get to a blank stage then you need to use [GOTO]0[*] and pull all your subs out. If you want to leave a couple things on, but pull the rest out then you should make friends with the [REM-DIM] button. [REM-DIM] will take out anything except the channels you select. For example, if you want to keep your cyc look up you might hit 111-120[REM-DIM], so all the channels except for 111-120 will be taken to 0.

If your submaster is a "pile-on" type sub then it is an HTP control, so as long as the sub is active, you won't be able to set the channels it controls to a lower level. I don't remember off the top of my head all the submaster types, but there may be a type that acts in LTP.

In your example, is channel 1 in your submaster? If it is then what you explain makes sense, if it is not, when you hit 1[@][ENTER] it should take the channel to 0 (or to the level set by the submaster). I have never run into a 500 series that doesn't do this, but there may be a setting that you need to change so that it does.

If you have temporarily modified channel levels, or you change a lever then change it back to where it started, and you don't want it to be red, you can hit [SHIFT][CLEAR] which will "release" all channels that have been modified (so they no longer show in red on the screen). If you are in the middle of a show they will track at that level until a new command is given to them, and if you are programming they won't get updated into cues. They would get recorded into cues if you use the record function.

Hope that is somewhat helpful. I sit in front of 500 series desks all day, so I am happy to help.

 

[etskinner]

In all, there is no function on the 500 Series (or the ETC Obsession II) that is anything like "release" on the Express(ion) line. If your goal is to get to a blank stage then you need to use [GOTO]0
[*] and pull all your subs out. If you want to leave a couple things on, but pull the rest out then you should make friends with the [REM-DIM] button. [REM-DIM] will take out anything except the channels you select. For example, if you want to keep your cyc look up you might hit 111-120[REM-DIM], so all the channels except for 111-120 will be taken to 0.

If your submaster is a "pile-on" type sub then it is an HTP control, so as long as the sub is active, you won't be able to set the channels it controls to a lower level. I don't remember off the top of my head all the submaster types, but there may be a type that acts in LTP.

In your example, is channel 1 in your submaster? If it is then what you explain makes sense, if it is not, when you hit 1[@][ENTER] it should take the channel to 0 (or to the level set by the submaster). I have never run into a 500 series that doesn't do this, but there may be a setting that you need to change so that it does.

If you have temporarily modified channel levels, or you change a lever then change it back to where it started, and you don't want it to be red, you can hit [SHIFT][CLEAR] which will "release" all channels that have been modified (so they no longer show in red on the screen). If you are in the middle of a show they will track at that level until a new command is given to them, and if you are programming they won't get updated into cues. They would get recorded into cues if you use the record function.

Hope that is somewhat helpful. I sit in front of 500 series desks all day, so I am happy to help.

First off, thanks for the quick response.

As for your question about my example, channel 1 was meant to be just from the cue, and channel 2 was meant to be just the submaster. The problem is that when I hit 1[@][ENTER], channel 1 will go to zero, not to the one set by the submaster like I want it to. It is helpful to know that in show, the channels that have been [SHIFT][CLR]'d out will track until given a new command. However, this doesn't help with the Sub problem.



If you're still willing to answer more:

I think the real problem is that we sometimes mix in subs with cues, and also sometimes manually adjust values live while in show. Other times, we'll be running a show just on subs and want to change one channel.

So, for example, Sub 1 could contain, say, channels 1 thru 4. I realize I'd like to take out some of the lights from that sub. Since we're doing the show live, I don't want an abrupt change so I try 1+4[TIME]4[@]0. Now only channels 2 and 3 are available to be changed by Sub 1, as the others have been set to 0. Sure, I can bring them back, but they never release control back to the sub, other than HTP.

From the way you describe things, this is probably a problem that isn't easily solvable, probably owing to the fact that the way we do things isn't how shows should be run.

 

[BurkeTheJerk]

I think the real problem is that we sometimes mix in subs with cues, and also sometimes manually adjust values live while in show. Other times, we'll be running a show just on subs and want to change one channel.

This is what I do on my Preset Palette II. Not sure if your console has an Undo button, but two taps on ours acts as the release.

 

[hobbsies]

http://bobbyharrelllighting.com/console_training/support.html

Saved my life once

 

[icewolf08]

This is what I do on my Preset Palette II. Not sure if your console has an Undo button, but two taps on ours acts as the release.

The new palettes are very different than the 500 series desks.

 

[etskinner]

Bobby Harrell Lighting Design

Saved my life once

Yeah, I discovered that about a month ago while trying to figure out some IL's. I've read all over those things.

---

I finally figured it out while working on the board this evening!

As the help documents on the console describe:

Restoring Playback Levels

You can restore channels that have been changed by the Channel Control to their current X
playback, effect playback, or submaster fader levels (or zero if no cue, submaster, or effect is
controlling them). This affects both intensities and attributes.

[UNDO]
[*] deselects and restores all currently selected channels which have been
changed by the Channel Control (red background). The fade time for this change is set
in the Setup display Undo Time field. chans [UNDO] deselects and restores the
specified channels which have been changed by the Channel Control (red background).
This is a two second fade.

[2] [THRU] [5] [UNDO] All Modes
Restores all channels from 2 through 5 which have been changed by the Channel
Control, whether or not they are selected. This is a two second fade.

It says that the second one is a 2 second fade but that is instead controlled by the setting Undo Time, at least in my OS version.

Woohoo!

 

[etskinner]

This is what I do on my Preset Palette II. Not sure if your console has an Undo button, but two taps on ours acts as the release.

Yeah, that's good and all, but on the 520i it only undoes the last thing if you don't give it any channels. What I posted above fixes that.