Jands Vista tips and tricks

[tomscott]

We're a small company in the south west, we bought a Jands relatively recently, is there anyone in the south west who would be willing to spend a bit of time with us showing us some tips and tricks maybe? I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement for payment (as much tea and biscuits as you can handle?!).

 

I've used it about 4 times on small festivals, busking shows. I've also done a panto on it to, so I know the basics and can use it, but it's getting the best out of it. I really like the desk, I'm aware it's forte isn't really busking but the bits I've done with it were ok, but I know it (and I!) can do better.

 

I had AC lighting come down and did a bit of training with us on it, but ideally need someone who has spent time on the desk busking...

 

We've got an assortment of LED pars, bars, dimmers and movers and used to use a Jester ML, that's gone now, replaced by the Jands.

 

It would also be good to know if there are people locally who can program/operate it that we could call on if needed to work for us on a job.

[Adam L F]

Hi Tom,

 

I've been programming on Jands consoles for quite a few years, I'd be more than happy to go over things with you or if you have any questions. The joy of the Byron software being you can lay things out in any which way you'd like, although I find that my way of working is very different from others sometimes.

 

If you want a chat feel free to drop me an email at adam[at]adamlafemina.co.uk

 

All the best,

Adam

[jack2609]

Hi Tom,

 

It is a common misconception that busking isn't Jands Vista's forte but arguably I believe Vista to be one of the best busking desks on the market due to being able to control all types of fixture together without having to use pre-programmed events / presets etc . Add in to this the ability to assign faders, buttons and layouts however you like, as Adam mentions, and you are certainly heading in the right direction.

 

I will try and give you 4 tips to help you on your way.

 

I have uploaded a video working through tips 1 to 4 at the link below:

https://vimeo.com/72333687

 

 

TIP 1:

 

Splitting playbacks / faders.

 

Doing this allows you to double or triple the amount of "things" you can place above a fader or playback. These could typically be cuelists, presets, groups or extracts amongst others.

 

To do this open the virtual console view (alt+2), hover over the top edge of the LCD with the mouse pointer and left click and hold down, dragging this down will then split the playback into 2 and eventually 3. You will then be free to assign the playbacks and buttons however you like by dragging in the functions found to the right of this screen.

 

 

TIP 2:

 

Using modified faders & buttons.

 

This is one of Jands' "best kept secrets / tips" but it is great for busking.

 

When we press one of the coloured ( red, yellow, green or blue ) modifier buttons the actions of the faders and buttons change to become whatever we have specified. This can equal up to 5 layers of things we can quickly change on the fly.

 

For example: Create a cuelist with an FX running in it. Store this to a fader playback. By default the fader is intensity and will play when I push up the fader. If I then hold down the red modifier and assign the fader to become FX rate in the virtual view every time I hold down the red key and touch the fader this will then be the FX rate. I can do this separately for each of the 4 modifiers.

 

 

TIP 3:

 

Live timing.

 

Live timing is typically the right fader of the pair found to the right of the console. The top timing limit of this fader is dictated by the "live timing" dropdown found at the top right of the Jands Vista software. When live timing is active any actions that you apply in the programmer ( for example presets and FX ) will take this time to be applied. You should hopefully be able to see this in action for yourself in my video.

 

 

TIP 4:

 

Customising quick pickers and external screens:

 

All of Vista's quickpickers and external screens can be arranged however and where ever you like. In my video I show you resizing the multi-quickpicker, adding a floating picker and the external screen that would be displayed if you were using an additional monitor. Utilising these pickers can give additional control for busking. To move stored items around the quickpickers hold down the green modifier ("alt") key and then drag and drop.

 

 

Over the next few months A.C. Entertainment Technologies are hosting a number of free Jands Vista training sessions at their High Wycombe and Leeds offices.

 

These training sessions are split up into two categories: Introduction & Advanced.

 

The sessions offer a great opportunity to get hands on with the whole Vista family and learn new skills in addition to having the opportunity to ask any questions specific to the way you would personally like to operate the console.

 

The introduction course aims to teach everything you need to become confident in setting up a console, programming a show and playing a show back. By the end of the typical day students are normally into intermediate features and exploring Vista's more advanced capabilities.

 

The advanced course is aimed at those who already work with or have an existing understanding of Vista exploring features such as macros, extracts, timecode and additional options for show playback. I would suggest Tom that this may be of interest to you.

 

 

If anyone would like to attend these sessions please feel free to view available dates and sign up at the link below:

 

http://www.ac-et.com...ng-sessions.asp

 

Hopefully this post will have given you a few extra things to consider when setting up your console for busking.

 

If you have any additional questions please feel free to PM me, send me an email or give me a call, I am always on hand and happy to help with any advice / tips and tricks.

 

 

Best Regards,

Jack

 

https://vimeo.com/72333687

[tomscott]

Thanks Adam and Jack.

 

Where are you based Adam?

 

Jack, some great tips there, didn't know about tip 2,that sounds like it will be brilliant, saves using 2 complete playbacks (and "wasting" buttons) for my fx, which is what I have been doing. I do love the way you can split playbacks, give you so many options for placing cues. Didn't realise you can place presets onto playbacks either.

 

Will spend a bit of time watching your lessons next week when I'm in the unit programming for the weekend. I've also registered my interest for the advanced training in high Wycombe in October. Do I need to register twice for 2 people to come up?

[jack2609]

Hi Scott,

I told you number 2 was a good one

Basically anything you can see in the virtual console view on the right hand side you can assign to a playback, button or fader by dragging and dropping as you see fit.

There are a number of other great tools for busking such as "extracts" and the "jump" command but we can touch on these another time.

 

If 2 people would like to attend the training it would be great if you could submit another registration containing your colleague's details. I have however noted your request for 2 people and pencilled the second one in.

 

I look forward to speaking and working with you soon but if you have any questions in the mean time please do not be afraid to get in touch. No question is a stupid one.

 

Regards,

Jack

[AndyJones]

Hello Jack, does that video have sound?

[tomscott]

So when busking, do you use presets and groups? When using them this way they get loaded into the programmer live tab. I did this to start with but found once I had lights going, it was difficult to release the fixtures and presets... Had a touch screen and was selecting fixtures and then adding presets. I found it a touch confusing working out what was running and why lights wouldn't turn off.

 

The way I do things currently is to create presets then a cue stacks, one for colours, gobos, position etc... It does seem a bit long winded...

 

Haven't really played with putting groups on playbacks yet.

[jack2609]

Andy I am afraid there was no sound with my video but the good news is you weren't going mad or having technical issues. I could record a video with an audio explanation if there is a demand for it but let me know if there is still something that you are struggling to understand.

 

Tom - Everyone works differently and there is no real right or wrong way of busking and my answer is always "whatever works for you and what is the easiest extension from your brain" - There is a high possibility that Vista will let you work in whichever way your mind works . However, me personally I do use global presets and groups. One of the main reasons for this is that I can then have creative freedom just letting Vista do its thing and help me out giving me what I asked for. You are correct in saying that everything is placed in the live programmer when working in this way but this shouldn't really give you any problems since the nature of what we are talking about is live and on the fly anyway.

 

One thing that I also do for show playback is assign some of the functions keys (F1-F12) to become "clear fixtures", "clear intensity", "clear position", "clear colour"… and so on so that after I select my groups ( using buttons or a touch screen ) I can then choose an attribute to clear which of course will take "live timing". I recommend you give this a try and see if it makes your life a little easier.

 

One extra thing that might help you out further is to take a look at the output view ( or add a floating window and dock it above your fixture chooser ). The output view has a "source mode" which tells you where each attribute is coming from. For example it may tell you that the position is coming from "cuelist 10 cue 2" and the colour is coming from the "live" programmer. To access this view right click in the output window and select "source mode".

 

Programming an individual cuelist for each of the attributes is also not uncommon.

 

I also sometimes work in this mode depending on the particular show that needs to be busked. A feature that I use heavily when doing this is the "Jump" button. With this I can press Jump, select the cue I want and press ok. Doing this will take the cues programmed time. Other options within the jump dialogue are to use "live timing" or "arm and close". The "arm and close" feature will remember what you have told it and close the window, next time you press the cue "play" button the cuelist will jump to your set cue in your set timing. Again I would recommend you have a play around with this feature as I believe it may be beneficial to you.

 

Finally, within each of the cuelists properties there is an option to turn on "release on override". What this means is if a cue is not contributing to the look on stage it will be automatically released. This may help you to maintain a tidy console and keep an eye on which cues are active. (NOTE: this feature is disabled if the cue is in HTP mode ).

 

In my last post I mentioned training at our High Wycombe office. The 28^th of August is now fully booked but we still have a couple of spaces remaining on the 17^th of September.

 

Hope this helps.

Jack

 

[tomscott]

So I've finally had a chance to sit down and collect my thoughts after the craziness of last weekend. Had a few programming issues and still can't figure out what I had done wrong. The most annoying problem was that I had a cue stack with my shape FX for the moving heads. Whenever I hit play for a new FX the heads kept changing position, back to the position that I had programmed the FX in at the warehouse. I had selected to use any base point and ticked the box for don't use own base point but found it didn't seem to make any difference. I tried opening the cue and deleting the position data from the time line view but then found the FX wouldn't work... It seemed to work fine in the warehouse, but not with other cues running...

 

I don't get how the FX shows up in the timeline or how save just the FX to a cue. For example, if I'm using Store Part to store the FX to a cue (like I used to) then there is no button for FX, only for Intensity, Position, Colour etc... If I save only the position info, it seems to save the position too... I'm sure its just the way I'm interpreting it...

 

I seem to find that when I run most FX cues (dimmer FX mainly) that they keep stopping.

 

Jack, I had registered for the advanced training on Tue 29th October. I am just about to register my colleague now.

 

 

 

[Edit - poor sentence construction!]

[tomscott]

Anybody help with my above query?

[jack2609]

Anybody help with my above query?

 

Hi Tom,

 

Apologies for delay in getting back to you, I have been away from my desk.

This is possible and what you are looking for is "free" and "don't use own basepoint".

 

The easiest way to do this is:

1) Create your position cuelists ( or cue stack ) and play one of these.

2) Press the Yellow key or CTRL on a keyboard and select the "new" cuelist option.

3) Within this cuelist edit open the FX editor and create the effect your require setting it to be "free" and "not to use own base point".

4) Once you are happy with this you can close and save that cue. Playing this back on top of your pre-recorded positions should give you the end result you are looking for.

 

I have uploaded a video of this process at the link below. Please feel free to download it and take a look at how I did it.

 

Download video

 

Please feel free to give me a call oin 07833 498 036 if you have any other questions.

 

Best regards,

Jack