Help with midi control of Elation Operator 192

[Plan-B]

Hi all,

 

If any here control an Elation DMX Operator or Operator 192 (or any controller for that matter) via midi and has a solution to the problem below I'd love to hear about it.

 

With just the DMX controller I am able to change from static scenes to audio run chases and back again with one or two button presses. I find this to be essential in live situations as I would like our bass player and myself to not have to tap dance the night away on the foot switch.

 

DMX controller only example: While in black out mode, before we start playing, I can turn on the chase I'd like to use later in the song and then over ride it with a static scene selection. The chase is still on and ready to go but being suppressed by my static scene selection. One press of the black out button brings up my selected static scene as the song starts. Through the verse I can switch between different static scenes as needed with one press of the different scene buttons. When the chorus starts one press of the audio button kills the chase over ride and my selected chase starts in audio mode to the beat of the music. To go back to static scenes for the following verse two button presses are required. First, one press to turn off audio mode and a second to select the scene I wish to use. Again the chase is still on and ready to go for the next chorus but being suppressed by the selected scene.

 

To me this set up is quite simple and would work perfect for our live applications but unfortuntily when connected to a midi pedal it reacts differently. Basically the chase over ride / suppression function seems to be not available via midi control.

 

Midi pedal example: When switching from a static scene to an audio run chase first one has to select the chase with a pedal press and then activate audio mode with a second pedal. To switch back to a static scene you have to first turn off the running chase then turn off audio mode and lastly select the static scene you want totaling 3 tap dancing pedal presses. This is a pain for many reasons. First if you forget which chase your running and hit the wrong chase pedal you'll stack the second chase on the first and now you have two to turn off. Second if you do hit the right pedal to turn off the chase all your lights go off blacking out the stage until you pick your static scene. Lastly it's just to many complicated pedal presses. While playing with the pedal I found my self getting lost and blacking out the stage quite often. I'd do better to turn all the lights to sound active and forget about them.

 

Is there any way to set it up so that the midi pedal reflects the button presses on the light controller exactly and acts the same way? Can I reprogram my FCB1010 or update my light board somehow to do so? How have others here set up their midi controlled light boards to deal with live shows. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers,

Chris