pearl Logic

[Dmx512]

Hi

Looking for any usefull hints/ideas on the best way to lay out the memories on a pearl roller for a good all round busking with live music etc.....I seem to get in a right mess flinging the roller around and loosing my way occasionally............thanks Dave

[tom_the_LD]

What about say page 1, gobos on A, colours on B, positions C, Iris D or something like that. Static scenes on page 2 and then movement chases on page 3?

 

Slightly OT, but does anyone here ever busk a show with the pearl in program mode and use pallettes?

 

 

 

Tom

[owentec]

Slightly OT, but does anyone here ever busk a show with the pearl in program mode and use pallettes?

 

Yes, quite often...

[Biskit]

What about say page 1, gobos on A, colours on B, positions C, Iris D or something like that. Static scenes on page 2 and then movement chases on page 3?

 

The problem I've had with doing it that way is that what if you want to use the generic/static scene on Page2 roller A1 and at the same time use, say, a movement/colour etc on Page1 roller B1, for example. You can't, because the fader (1 in this case) remains in control of the same memory until brought down to zero, even when you chance page/roller.

 

What I've started doing (which works marginally better) is try to keep playbacks using the same fixture on the same fader but different roller letters, eg. a scan movement in blue with no gobo might be on A1, the same but red on B1, the same but open white with a gobo on C1, etc. That way you always have the same fixture on the same playback fader. If you have several sets of movers you would end up with, for example, all the 'blue' chases on A, all the reds on B, all the gobo1 on C, etc...

 

Similarly if I have various different chases using the same generics, these would go on A15, B15, C15 etc... as I will never want to use them at the same time, and it means fader 15 is always a chase of those generics (or whatever).

 

HTH

 

Ben.

[Dmx512]

Thanks Ben will give that a go

[johnhuson]

Slightly OT, but does anyone here ever busk a show with the pearl in program mode and use pallettes?

 

Why run a show in program mode when run mode takeover gives you all the advantage of running in program but removes functions which could end up ruining your show!

 

What I've started doing (which works marginally better) is try to keep playbacks using the same fixture on the same fader but different roller letters, eg. a scan movement in blue with no gobo might be on A1, the same but red on B1, the same but open white with a gobo on C1, etc. That way you always have the same fixture on the same playback fader. If you have several sets of movers you would end up with, for example, all the 'blue' chases on A, all the reds on B, all the gobo1 on C, etc...

 

I lay the desk out in a similar way when busing for a band type event. Each roller page has the same function on the same fader, I have what I call a 'look' (you could refer to it as a scene) for a song on each page. Starting off with the first four faders I have complete static looks minus dimmer information stored on them with slight position, colour or beam difference between each one so I can use the playback add buttons to bump the looks in time. The next two or three playbacks I have movement effects, then on Playback 8 and 9 I have colour effects be it shapes or chases and then on Playbacks 10 and 11 I have beam effects which could be gobo chases or iris pulse for example. Finally the last four playbacks I use for dimmer information splitting between two different types of fixture (usually wash and spot). So for example on a show using MAC 250 Entours & Washes I would have all dimmers on for the Washes on 12, a dimmer chase (different on each roller page) on 13, all dimmers for the Entours on 14 and a dimmer chase for them on 15. This layout of fixtures works well on pretty much any console with submaster playbacks.

 

On top of this I can use palettes and timed pallets on top of all this, having colour palettes on 1-10, beam on 11-20 and position on 21-30, using the second page similarly but for palettes I'm less likely to want quickly.

 

By doing this I can pretty quickly grab any change I feel might be appropriate to the song at a moments notice. Quick palette which allows you to recall a palette for all the the fixtures contained within it without having to actually select any fixtures is worth enabling as well, which is done by going into User Settings (AVO Shift and Softkey C) and toggling Option 6.

 

Hope that is some help, it's the way I do it but it might not work for you.

[niclights]

I use the following rules:

 

Change very little between pages & make it logical (captain).

 

Use palettes in conjunction with Quick Palette (no selecting fixtures) & Palette Paging (pages with Fixture page).

 

Try to avoid placing any intensity information on a playback that you might decide to grab from preset handle.

 

Do not run show in Program mode except when making edits or, in extreme case, using shape gen directly. As John said there is no good reason and it will disable the Add buttons! It is considered bad practice.

 

 

For pages layout obviously it depends on your operating style and number of fixtures.

 

I like to keep a good number of generics washes + perhaps chases of each. Individual intensity masters for each intelligent fixture type. A dimmer chase across relevant fixtures. A positional shape set to mode2 (timed size & speed) with no origin position. Any remaining faders for specials I need quick access to during the show - ie. DWE's, ACL, strobe etc or alternatively colour chases/shapes (rainbow?!)

 

With this sort of layout the only things I might vary in intelligents area will be the dimmer chase type and possibly the shape.

For the generics I like to use the roller pages to layer in colour info (+timing). For example RP1 = B, Lv, A, G, W. RP2 = B +varilite blue, Lv + varilite lav etc. RP3 as RP2 but with 1sec LTP fade. This gives quick access to colour matches for your generics with or without fades switchable easily from the roller page buttons.

Similarly I might layer in the same type of info (along with intensity) on generic chases.

 

For everything else intelligent I use palettes.

 

For these I program only single attribute (with exception of gobo+focus) and single fixture type to any given palette. This can be seen as inefficient, but IMO speed is key with busking. Using this method and Quick Palette mode gives single button recall, two for timed. No selecting attribute & no selecting fixtures/groups etc. Palette paging still gives you direct access to 120 of the 200 available. Additionally (if you really need) you can keep the legended Focus menu open and have another five on call. This menu will always remember where were if you exit & return. Note that, while within the focus menu, your timings will remain (like 'latch' function on D4). This can be very useful.

 

You can also approach the palettes & paging in the same way as playback pages. For example FP1 could contain individual colours for each fixture type along with positions. FP2 could contain colours for two fixture types on the same button. One of the biggest problems with palette paging is how to label. By using a structured method in this way you can avoid confusion.

[Biskit]

The methods described by the last two posters are far superior to my own... most of my shows will involve relatively few movers so I can fit all the different options I need on the playbacks without using the pallettes. It is also a matter of operating style.. different people have experience on different desks and this impacts on how they prefer to proramme and run a show. The Pearl gives several diferent ways to achieve any given result.

 

Whatever your style and preferences, it always pays to think carefully before you start about what you are likely to need most often, what you will use together, and what you will use only one of at a time. This will allow you to lay the desk out in a logcal way and save a lot of panic later on!

 

HTH

 

Ben

[danjshelton]

One thing to bear in mind with palette pages which can be quite disastorous, if you have some preset faders active (e.g. a couple of faders for S4 Profiles giving front light to a band) and you change pallete page (which also changes preset page) and then hit [CLEAR] this will effectiveley clear all of the preset faders that are raised from another page (Hence losing the frontlight for the band!).

 

I've been caught out a few times by this, now I always make sure that whenever I apply a palette from a page other than 0 then I change it back to 0 straight away and then I can hit [CLEAR].

 

Cheers

 

Dan

[niclights]

Yes indeed! The single most annoying 'feature' of the software. Oh how I have argued with Shahid over this....

 

That does remind me of the other advantage of using QP though - you can hit [clear] at your hearts content (above excepted) like you know you want to!

[johnhuson]

Yes indeed! The single most annoying 'feature' of the software. Oh how I have argued with Shahid over this....

 

Agreed, I'd be lying if I said it hadn't caught me out on more than one occasion, including some quite embarrassing moments! Out of interest Nic what is Avolites thinking about having it like this? I personally can't see any useful reasoning behind it apart from catching you out. Like Dan I always flick straight back to Page 0 after recalling a palette on the second page or I will recall the palette using the numeric pad but this means you can't add a time to the palette. It's even more of a PITA when using the desk on larger shows where you have too many fixtures to fit on one page.

[niclights]

The reason given is that users want to be able to quickly remove raised handles from a previous page.

 

My understanding is this function exists as a result of the ability to bring up intensities of different fixtures occupying the same physical fader across pages. Assuming you do this - ie. FP0, raise handle 1, change to FP1, lower and raise handle 101 (same fader) - you can have both handles outputting. Pressing [clear] is a quick way to get rid of handle 1, rather than moving back to FP0 and doing it manually.

 

My argument is the problem of accidentally removing output outweighs the problem of not being able to!

 

Note that this design is the same in the D4 where things are made even more complicated since the preset faders can be many things.

At the very least I would rather this only affected handles that were used on more than one page. It makes no sense to kill everything from a page if there was never even the possibility to overlay. That way you could patch to avoid clashes with crucial fixtures (ie. keylights). That and/or a user option to toggle this function entirely.

 

 

As an aside you can actually do timed numeric palette recalls. Input time, press [focus], input palette number (possibly other way round?), press [enter] Obviously you can also select palettes direcly here with the softbuttons, avoiding page changes.

[taffymonster]

bugger 'bad practice' and suchforth - I busk in live program mode using palettes. When doing club nights or bands you don't know etc, it makes for the fastest changes between states and I've found it to be the quickest way to change the atmosphere with only a split second's notice (intor to song etc).

 

As for roller layout - as has been partly posted I've found it best to think vertically not horizontally - so a series of say movement chases in columns 1 and 2 (because switching page and pipping the fader can be a pain) but without doubling up (no point), same with generic chases, a series of standard states such as stage frontlight, DJ spotlight etc on another column, and a series of different rates and intensity strobe flashes on another, blinders on and chases in another col...

 

Colours, gobos and positions up on the palettes (beneath the patch faders). It's not industry standard, but for busking I've found it to be the best way. Your disagreements are anticipated mind... :P

 

But it's all about what works for you, which is why the pearl is such a versatile desk :-) Have a think and put things on there in a logical (to you!) order, which allows for the most flexibillity.

 

First few months that the venue I was working at had a pearl, the programming and layout was fantastically arbitrary, as new fixtures, design etc turned up it was just overlayed on top as only one person had programmed in a few complicated things that I didn't know how to repeat! Thankfully it got to the point where enough was enough, I worked out what to do and programmed it all up in a way that worked great for all the board ops working there (4 or so excluding the ex-theatrical guy who wanted a go button all the time!)

 

Just my 2p from a club/gig venue perspective. I miss the pearl haven't used one for around 6months! The azure, in my mind, doesn't come close!

 

[ed: making a point clearer!]

[johnhuson]

The reason given is that users want to be able to quickly remove raised handles from a previous page.

 

My understanding is this function exists as a result of the ability to bring up intensities of different fixtures occupying the same physical fader across pages. Assuming you do this - ie. FP0, raise handle 1, change to FP1, lower and raise handle 101 (same fader) - you can have both handles outputting. Pressing [clear] is a quick way to get rid of handle 1, rather than moving back to FP0 and doing it manually.

 

My argument is the problem of accidentally removing output outweighs the problem of not being able to!

I couldn't agree more Nic, maybe a double press of clear would be more appropriate, enabling you to clear the programmer with one click and the raised handles with another.

 

 

As an aside you can actually do timed numeric palette recalls. Input time, press [focus], input palette number (possibly other way round?), press [enter]

I thought there was probably a way but never bothered to look that hard. It's not a way I recall palettes often and generally palettes I have on the second chase are often gobo and prism palettes so as the channels will generally be set to instant and not fade there is no need to add a time.

 

 

Obviously you can also select palettes directly here with the softbuttons, avoiding page changes.

I've always found the soft buttons to be less intuitive and therefore slower than recalling palettes using actual buttons, that and I often don't get time to electronically label my palettes.

 

 

bugger 'bad practice' and suchforth - I busk in live program mode using palettes. When doing club nights or bands you don't know etc, it makes for the fastest changes between states and I've found it to be the quickest way to change the atmosphere with only a split second's notice (intor to song etc).

Again, I'm curious to know what your thinking is behind this? I can't see any possible advantages of running in program mode rather than run mode takeover, other than if you want to actually update programs or palettes as you go. Also running in program mode the Add/Swop buttons on the playbacks don't act like they do in either of the run modes.

[niclights]

I thought there was probably a way but never bothered to look that hard.

Actually I don't think it's documented. It was too confusing to prompt on the LCD so it is there as an extra, as it were.

 

bugger 'bad practice' and suchforth - I busk in live program mode using palettes. When doing club nights or bands you don't know etc, it makes for the fastest changes between states and I've found it to be the quickest way to change the atmosphere with only a split second's notice (intor to song etc).

Again, I'm curious to know what your thinking is behind this? I can't see any possible advantages of running in program mode rather than run mode takeover, other than if you want to actually update programs or palettes as you go. Also running in program mode the Add/Swop buttons on the playbacks don't act like they do in either of the run modes.

My thoughts precisely. There is no reason to operate in Program mode. I often see users doing it and wonder why. Unless you need to make edits or busk the shape gen it is simply a disadvantage - slower console, no flash buttons & potential to make accidental changes. If you do need to make edits you can switch in/out of Program mode freely while operating. This is something I do regularly, but I will never leave it in this mode longer than necessary.