Terminology clarification

[knightdan65]

Just a quick one, as I’m having to get into programming a bit more these days: is a macro the same thing as a palette? Or do the two terms refer to separate functions?

Thanks

[niclights]

The answer may be largely dependent on the platform. But I would say no. To me a macro is an automated sequence of operations. A palette is similar to a cue but can be used for structured programming where cues are made from palettes and then updating the palettes updates the cues (for example pre-programming positional palettes off-site and then adjusting the positional palettes on site propogates to all associated cues rather than having to update each one individually, thus saving time).

[knightdan65]

That sounds like a macro is more like a chase or effect type thing then? Platform is EOS Nomad btw

[niclights]

I am not very familiar with the ETC consoles but I would say not. In my mind a chase is a sequence of cues. An effect is something that modifies control values. An example of a macro might be a sequence of button presses which you could record to speed up things that you do frequently (so instead of having to press a number of buttons in sequence you could just press one for the macro that then does the rest for you).

[jonathanhill]

That sounds like a macro is more like a chase or effect type thing then? Platform is EOS Nomad btw

A macro is a series of keystrokes that can be executed by a cue, a fader, a button or by typing [Macro] [number]. For example, if there is a series of commands that you repeat, such as {All NPs} [Recall From] [Cue] [Last] it is easier and quicker to execute it via a single butter press.

 

A pallette is a series of moving light attributes that can be referenced by cues, submasters, presets and effects. EOS breaks them down into Intensity, Focus, Colour and Beam attributes. As mentioned above, if your show references Focus palettes, then if the show moves to another venue then only that Focus data needs updating. Other data can remain unchanged.

 

I recommend reading the Tea-time Tutorials to inform yourself about these and other functions.

 

E2A: The effects engine has just been updated with v2.8, definitely worth a look!

[knightdan65]

That clears up the distinction a bit, thanks. So one might use a macro to bring all lamps up to 15% for a line check, rather than move a bunch of faders independently for example?

 

Thanks for the tip, will have a look

[niclights]

I think you'd just use a cue for that. It would be much quicker to make a cue than make a macro to do it. Or just select the (group of) fixtures followed by the command intensity @15 (or something along those lines).

 

You could make a macro to help automate creating an intensity chase. For example (assuming this or something similar is possible on the ETC range) the macro steps might be 1 = next fixture, 2 = intensity @ full, 3 = record chase step, 4 = intensity @ 0. You could then start recording a chase, select a group of fixtures and press the macro button which will select the first fixture in the group, put the intensity at full, record the chase step and then put the intensity back to zero. If you press the macro key again it will repeat for the next fixture in the group and so on. On the Avolites Titan consoles you can take this further by inputting value x then press the macro button which will make the macro run x times. So if you have 10 fixtures in the group, 10 <macro> would create a 10 step intensity chase. That way 2 button presses have replaced 60.

[paulears]

Any sequence of button and keypad prods that you do repeatedly makes sense to build into a macro. Very useful things, especially when you start to need lots of these long prodding sequences to do everyday things.

[gareth]

Platform is EOS Nomad btw

 

Have a look on ETC's website and Youtube channel - lots of excellent self-guided training resources for new users, including material covering both of the subjects you're asking about!

 

But in essence, as others have said - a macro is a means of simplifying/automating a frequently-used sequence of keystrokes (regardless of how long or short - it might be a big ol' macro to automate moving/copying things around in a showfile, or you might simply be bored with hitting {Pan} [Fan] {Centre} a lot and make a macro that turns three keystrokes into one!) ; while a palette is a bunch of values which can be referenced by a subset of the parameters of a moving head, LED fixture or similar.

 

(NB the difference between a palette and a preset on Eos ... palettes come in intensity, focus, colour and beam flavours, and each one can only contain attributes which fall within its own remit, i.e. you can't record iris parameters into colour palettes ; while presets work the same way but can contain parameters of any flavours. Presets can also reference palettes ... but best not run before you can walk!)

[natjones]

Macros are also really handy for start ups and shutdowns. For example, you could write a macro that lamps on your movers, goes to preset/rig check, and turns on your hazers, and trigger that to fire every time you turn the desk on, and another macro to take everything to zero/lamp off when you shut down. This are in the show settings.

[DrV]

And if you've got a spare dimmer channel it really could make the tea too!