"Hard patch" refers to plugging a circuit into a dimmer, with some type of patch panel. Dimmer Per Circuit systems do not have this. Inserting a fixture's male into a circuit's connector is known as "plugging."
"Soft patch" refers to assigning one or more dimmers (now called "outputs" to account for devices other than dimmers) to a control channel.
"Proportional patch" is assigning dimmer(s) at a specific maximum level to a channel. (Also known as "Scaling Factor" on some Strand consoles.)
"Pin patch" refers to patching a multi-cable circuit into a dimmer of a Touring Rack, and happens inside a rack's Patch Bay. [On old R&R Analog consoles, dimmer-to-channel or channel-to-submaster assignments were often made with small pins, which was known as a Matrix Patch or Battleship (ala the "you sunk my Battleship" game) patch.]
"Fixture Patch" is assigning automated lights to the proper DMX address in the console.
"Repatch" is the process of replugging a dimmer or circuit during a performance. This is done to maximize the use of available dimmers.
example: unit A. is used only in cue 4, unit B. is used in cue 10.
upon completion of cue 5 unit A is manually unpatched and unit B is patched
Thus one dimmer may be used for multiple specials.
"Soft patch" refers to assigning one or more dimmers (now called "outputs" to account for devices other than dimmers) to a control channel.
"Proportional patch" is assigning dimmer(s) at a specific maximum level to a channel. (Also known as "Scaling Factor" on some Strand consoles.)
"Pin patch" refers to patching a multi-cable circuit into a dimmer of a Touring Rack, and happens inside a rack's Patch Bay. [On old R&R Analog consoles, dimmer-to-channel or channel-to-submaster assignments were often made with small pins, which was known as a Matrix Patch or Battleship (ala the "you sunk my Battleship" game) patch.]
"Fixture Patch" is assigning automated lights to the proper DMX address in the console.
"Repatch" is the process of replugging a dimmer or circuit during a performance. This is done to maximize the use of available dimmers.
example: unit A. is used only in cue 4, unit B. is used in cue 10.
upon completion of cue 5 unit A is manually unpatched and unit B is patched
Thus one dimmer may be used for multiple specials.