Grandma1 advice

[mitranator]

Hi guys , a quick question, I'm running a medium size theatre, 50 dimmer channels and a few dozens of DMX fixtures, RGB , moving lights and so on....

As a temporary measure I got a Zero 88 orb xf but I have an opportunity to buy an used Grandma1.

Besides the tons of questions that coul fill a page the important ones are:

How easy would be for some of my untrained colleagues to use it at a supperficial level, so just run it once I've programmed the cues in?

Any idea how many channels can I end up using fader wings?

Also, is there a remote posibility when I need to rig and focus ?

What's your opinion about it, is it worth to buy somesing that good but that old?

 

Thank you so much to anyone who's ever used it and can give me a clue!

 

Dan

[mac.calder]

The MA1 is still a decent desk - provided you don't need to deal with lots of 'compound' fixtures (ie those with sub-fixtures like LED cells with individual pans and tilts) - as MA1 does not support subfixtures....

 

MA1 can be remoted from an apple device (MARemote in the app store). It's a good app.

 

MA deals in 16 bit parameters. So a fixture with 16 bit pan and tilt will only use 1 parameter for each despite using 2 DMX channels for each - so your parameter count (2048 for a fullsize) can actually end up being > 4 full universes.

 

What size MA1? I generally disliked anything other than the light and fullsize (which both have motorised faders). Your faders have 2 functions, executors and channels. In executor mode, you can have hundreds of pages of sequences (cue lists, chases) and function faders. In Channel mode your dimmer channels are presented like an old-school "fader per channel" desk - which makes dealing with generics really nice. There are Page Up and Page Down buttons for each mode beside the faders - and the motorised faders make using it devine. You can program your generics by paging through all of the channel pages and tweaking levels, then hit "Executor Up" and store it straight to a fader. Really quick and easy.

 

MA1 does not have fader wings IIRC, however you can fake one with the DMX in.

 

As far as using it if it is pre-programmed... Yeah, it's easy - push fader up, scene executes. Same as most other pre-programmed desk.

 

As for the value of buying the desk... which model and how much are they asking?

[timmeh2]

The MA1 is still a decent desk - provided you don't need to deal with lots of 'compound' fixtures (ie those with sub-fixtures like LED cells with individual pans and tilts) - as MA1 does not support subfixtures.... 

 

Hi

 

Actually it can, although you have to be a bit clever/devious when it comes to building the fixture's profile.

 

I recently took a load of Chamsys Rogue FXB's out with an MA1 and was able to control all the tilt channels with ease, and run multiple effects across them too.

 

Granted, it is a little fiddly and bending a fixture's DMX map to make it work can be a pain but it is possible.

 

All the best

Timmeh

[mac.calder]

It is not a composite fixture though - it is more about splitting fixtures into a multiple fixtures "old school" style, where each component is treated as it's own fixture and then you have a "master" fixture for the general whole-fixture functions. That's fine for smallish fixtures - but some have 20-30 'components' with more than just RGB and whilst it is doable it is in no way user friendly - especially when you end up with a page of groups just for the one fixture. Especially when you have some fixtures where the master channels interact and interfere with the component channels.

[timmeh2]

Hi

 

Agreed, although remember that you don't have to have a group button defined to access a fixture. When faced with this kind of scenario, it's far faster to create macros and/or use MATricks to build shortcuts for grabbing the parameters you want to control, rather than having to click multiple group buttons.

 

the 'Feature' command will allow you to select parameters quickly rather than going through the list. It comes in very handy when you're running Media Servers and wotnot as the attribute page often gets too big to navigate efficiently. If I'm in a rush I'll often have macros set up that let me quickly change between Dim, Color, P&T and Gobo without having to keep going to the either the smart window or finding the attribute. You could, in theory, program your focuses and basic looks entirely from the stage view or the groups page without having to flip between screens.

 

The issue with the control block modifying the way everything else works is annoying but you can usually work around it.

 

As another tip; don't forget that a single effect can control multiple pan, tilt and color channels simultaneously, by using the filter function. It's also possible to link effects together. Try playing with the modulate feature as well to really mix things up, you can create seemingly endless RGB and dimmer chases with a few mouse clicks.

 

Lastly, with regards to modulating control channels, an effect can also add a static value to a parameter whilst it is running. In the case of the Rogues, with certain effects I was changing the offset tilt and roll parameters, and/or the tilt mode (via the control channel) as well as creating movement; makes it a lot easier for busking as I had a page just full of toggle switches controlling effects which gave me thousands of individual looks - all without programming a single cue.

 

All the best

Timmeh