Running Chases Within Stacks Options

[Don Allen]

I have two single channel chases in a show. Both chases are used to pulse lights so there are two steps in the chase, step 1 is at 100%, step 2 is at 40%. Both chases run using playback as scene faders.

When I record the chases into a stack, each chase is being recorded with a scene so I have a chase and a scene in the same step of the stack.

The scene comes up but the chase does not run. I am using single channel chases as I have run out of channels as it is a show in a community theatre.

Any suggestions ?

Thanks
Don

[matt@playhouse H...]

Hi Don,

By the sound of it you are recording a step in your stack as a snapshot (pressing the record scene button) with the two playbacks up?

If this is the case, the desk will only capture the DMX output at the moment you press record scene.

The way around it is to create your chase with the lights of the scene up in both steps (so if your scene is channels 1 through 4 at 50%, and you are pulsing ch. 5, you record step one as ch. 1-4 @ 50%, ch. 5 @ 100 then step 2 as ch. 1-4 @ 50%, ch. 5 @ 40%) then add your chase to the stack using its S/A button (as you would to add a scene into the stack)

Hope that helps you.

Matt

[Don Allen]

Hi Matt

I have just caught up with the forum so don't have the desk in front of me.

If I record the scene in both steps of the chase, won't the scene lights dip as the chase steps through ?

Is there a fifference to the maXim between record scene and record stack?

Thanks
Don

[matt@playhouse H...]

Hi Don,

if you have the scene in the chase, then the lights wont dip, in fact that is exactly what I was trying to stop it doing when I figured this work around. It does mean that if you have a chase with a large number of steps, they can be a pain to edit...

Short version:

The record scene button has two different functions, normally it is simply a quick record of a state, however within the stack creation, record scene becomes a DMX snapshot command.


-EDIT - Long winded version
(Well I reread this bit, and realised that this bit doesn't really answer your question!! oops!!)

The maXim does deal with Scenes and Stacks differently (and Ritchie will correct me for getting some of this wrong...) the Scenes are a basic look that can be replayed on individual faders or can be used as building blocks whereas the Stack is more of the theatre style cue list. I tend to record all of my states as scenes, then using a couple of programming shortcuts create the stack from them.

Because the maXim saves chases to faders in the same way as scenes are saved to faders, when you go to create your stack, (I use an XL/P) assuming that you have 96 states, you press record stack, choose the fader (which is essentially just a memory location) to save it to, then on page 1 press and hold red flash button 1 then tap red flash button 48, et voila you have your first 48 steps of your stack. if you then change to red page 2, and repeat the press and hold etc. you have all 96 steps in your stack quite quickly.

- /EDIT

The only bugbear I have with the way that stacks read the scene information is to do with timings. (but that's a whole other post...)

Hope that helps,

Matt

[LSC TechSupport]

Well written Matt, I could not have done better myself.

[Don Allen]

Thanks for the explanation Matt. Time do do more use.