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    kelaxelsen
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Help/Tips for reprogramming an entire system.

Hi! 

So, I'm (kind of) new to programming lights, and this year I've taken over an ETC ION system at a high school. The senior who left it to me messed it up A LOT. I was wondering if anyone had some instructions/tips or resources for re-patching my whole setup? It's just insanely messed up and I think starting from scratch might be best, my director also has no idea how anything works. I've watched all of the etc ion video library videos and I'm not sure where else to look. If anyone has something please let me know! 

Also, ask away if there are any questions about the system, I can (probably) answer them.

  • 0

    What are you trying to do or accomplish in terms of repatching your system?

    The Ion cheat sheet might be helpful for you.

    www.etcconnect.com/.../DownloadAsset.aspx

  • 0

    So some questions for you. What fixtures are in your rig? Do the fixture numbers make sense to you, such as FOH wash is 1 thru 4 (or what ever you use)? are there things already programed that work and you like such as presets, colour, focus, beam pallets and effects? You may wan to merge them into your new file. 

    There are so many ways to do this and my way may not suit you. See if you can make contact with other lighting people in your are and have a chat with them to help you understand what you need to. One thing I like about working multiple venues is the range of skills and info I can tap into from so many people and then I work out what works best for me.

    Enjoy the ride and remember that experts were once beginners.

    Regards

    Geoff 

  • 0

    Please clarify what you mean by "messed it up A LOT."  "Where else to look" for what?  What is it you don't like about the current setup?  Is it the patch?  the cues?  the subs?  macros?  labels or lack thereof?  channel assignments?  etc...

    Can you turn on the lights from the board?  Do you know the DMX addresses of all your instruments and the type of instruments?  That info should be in the current patch.  With that information, you can clear the entire show and begin to patch from scratch and enter your show data as you see fit.

    You could try uploading the current show file which could help in understanding your issue.

  • 0

    A situation like this can look overwhelming and of course makes it hard to know what you want to ask.

    You could try to see this mess as a chance. If you're rebuilding the showfile anyway, think about what bothered you in the past. Unintuitive channel numbering? Now is the moment to change it. You have pre-built presets in your showfile but want to allow guest designers to use presets 1-100? Now's the moment to have your own presets starting at 101.

    One thing that would certainly help rebuilding the showfile is having an unconnected laptop running the ETCnomad software in offline mode next to the console. While using the console to rebuild you can use your laptop to search for information like DMX addresses in the old showfile.

Related

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