ETC Expression 3 REMDIM Macro

[Stu]

Hello Peeps

 

Off late I've been racking my brains on how to make our two Expression 3s mimic the REMDIM function of the 520/530/550s, after being asked countless times by visiting Proddie LXs, Company Managers, Relighters etc "Does this desk have a REMDIM function?". And today, after many hours on the OLE, I've been able to create something I'm happy with and is almost identical.

 

It works as follows:

 

Basically, you need to program a macro as follows (I use M1 so it's a one button press on the riggers remote)

 

At, Full, 1, Thru, x, Except, Mwait-3, At, Rel

 

replace 'x' with the highest number dimmer you have.

 

To explain how this works, when you have a channel up while focussing (say Channel 12) and you want to move to channel 60, you'd press 60 then M1. This would initally take 60 up to full, and then select the 1 thru 200 (for example). The wait part of the Macro is critical as this then allows you to type in the channel number again (as to make sure it's not released), and then after 3 seconds everything bar the active channel will be released, therefore giving you the new light to focus without the previous one or any of the rest of the rig.

 

You could alter the M-wait time if you feel 3 seconds is too short, or too long.

 

It's a bit crude but it works. It's certainly alot easier than making one channel live, then trying to remembering the previous channel, and taking that out! It's also safer than go to a B/O before bringing up the new channel.

 

If anyone has any little changes to make it better or slightly more user friendly please do suggest them! :)

 

Hope it's of some use tho

Stu

[Stu]

Hello again

 

Further playing on the desk today has created this similar macro to do the same job.

 

Sneak, 1, Thru, 250 (or max dimmer), At, 0, Time, 5, Enter, Mwait-1.5, At, Full

 

Basically here you press M1 (or whatever macro you've saved too) and then while the previous channel is fading out type the new channel in, which will come up to full while the old one is fading out.

 

Again you can alter the Time or M-wait time to fit your needs.

 

Can't take all the credit for this one, this one was created between myself and another technician.

 

Hope it helps!

Stu

[Quarterfront]

What I came up with is [FlashOff][Flash]. To write it you have to do a learn in stage mode and hit "Flash" twice. Then you edit the macro, which will read "Flash FlashOff Flash FlashOff" to read "FlashOff Flash". Essentially what the macro does is hold the Flash softkey down for you.

 

Enter a channel number, key the macro, the channel comes up FL (assuming that the channel is below 50% to begin with, which is the state you'd be in during focus or lightcheck). Enter a new channel number, key the macro again, old light goes out, new one comes up FL.

 

Now, enter a channel number, key the macro and try hitting "+" or "-". Because "Flash" stays lit, you can bump through channels forwards or backwards to do channel check.

 

Whee.

[Beachhouse13]

I think what you are looking for is the [Dim] button. Press [Dim] + dimmer number + [At] +desired level + [Enter] + [Enter], or [Dim] + dimmer number + [Full] + [Enter]. This will instantly take the dimmer to the entered value. You can then move to the next higher or lower dimmer by pressing [+] or [-]. I think you can also type in a new dimmer number, but I'm not sure. I have found this to be a great tool for focusing, finding a light to add, or finding the light you want to remove (just type in 0 for the level). Although this only helps if you keep your patch 1:1, or have a printout of the patch.

 

 

Hope that helps. If not tell me what you are trying to do as I'm not familiar with the desks you referenced.

:blink:

 

EDIT: I for got to say that you have to keep piece of paper and a pencil handy so that you can write down the dimmers you want to add or remove. Once you know what channels you need to change you can press [Release] and then make the changes.

[david.elsbury]

10 points for thread necromanacy! OP from 2004...

[Beachhouse13]

Wow, guess I need to pay more attention to the OP date. :blink:

[Quarterfront]

10 points for thread necromanacy! OP from 2004...

 

Yeah, I know.

 

See, I was putzing around on another forum, somebody had this 39 step macro you had to run in blind to get an Expression 3 to do what amounts to a RemDim for focus. Started fooling around on in EOL and came up with this 2-step macro that does it and gives you the ability to bump through CHANNELS (instead of just Dimmers) using the + and - keys on an Expression. The lack of the ability to RemDim during focus or to do a channel check and step backwards (as opposed to the Macro that ETC gives you in the book which only lets you go forwards) has annoyed me for years.

 

Express & Expression are great boards, but not being able to do a simple channel check is a pretty annoying fault. Been bugging me since way back before 2004, so.... Why not....

 

Okay, I mean, hey, I'm down here in my little office, nobody I work with gets it, I gotta' brag to somebody.... :)