multiple channels on one address? (i know...)

An odd function that could get some people in trouble I agree; but in touring situations I have run in to this same issue if say My FOH has to be cut down to a 3 area instead of 5. The outside 2 areas now would want to come up anytime the original outside 4 areas were programmed to. I hadn't thought of the merger trick, but have also not always had extra outputs in the rig physically to do such a workaround :-\

-JD

Maybe I'm missing something, but if you've cued the show for the maximum channel count you would ever have, when you play venues that cannot provide all the gear, you end up with channels that do nothing, I.E, 7 FOH DS area channels as normal and the cue structure shows that.  Some houses can only provide gear to provide 5 channels/areas.  So nothing gets patched into channels/area's 1 & 7.  The channels live in the cues with values, but with nothing patched, they do zip for that venue.  Am I missing something ?.

SB

Maybe I'm missing something, but if you've cued the show for the maximum channel count you would ever have, when you play venues that cannot provide all the gear, you end up with channels that do nothing, I.E, 7 FOH DS area channels as normal and the cue structure shows that.  Some houses can only provide gear to provide 5 channels/areas.  So nothing gets patched into channels/area's 1 & 7.  The channels live in the cues with values, but with nothing patched, they do zip for that venue.  Am I missing something ?.

SB

You are correct in the situation set-up that I'm talking about;

The problem lies in your last part, those channels do zip for that venue. When you have a scene (i.e FAR DSR) that uses ONLY the channels (ch 1 in your example) you had to cut (not patched) you get no front light at all, where if you could have patched the next area (normally channel 2) into that channel (ch 1) as well as its intended channel (ch 2), light would come up on the now double wide area. Is that clearer?

-JD

I'll add a +1 to the exact scenario Jeff mentioned. 

OK, better understood now, except that you seemingly induce a needless complication to the cue structure.  You know that the area needs to be lit and that Ch 1 activates that area for the appropriate scenes.  Then you potentially create a conflict should that same address need to come to a different level at some point following and which channel has priority ?.  

I CAN see the need and use, but just not sure how the console and programmer would deal with a potential conflict of interest, as it where.

SB

In all of my situations where I would need this function; an HTP approach would be ideal: as of those two areas; If one was programmed to be brighter, I'm going to want "both areas" to take on this level.

JD