Volunteer friendly show

Hi Jon…

Yes, I used to regularly setup consoles for volunteers. It takes quite a bit of programming to be ready. The key is to REALLY sit down and think about what you want and how you want it laid out.

As you're on a Nano, and there are no motorized faders, there are some things you need to keep in mind. Your touchscreen is also going to be key…get the biggest one you can…or two if you can.

Here is how I would lay it out…
Intensities go on the faders. Break things down into groups to allow the most flexibility

Now, on your screen, I would break things down into quadrants.
Top Left Side - Color palettes - row of solid colors (or two), row of dual colors (1/2 the rig in one color, 1/2 the rig in the other color - allowing to you bounce between them..
Bottom Left Side - Beams - (this all depends on your fixtures) - 1 row for Gobo wheel 1 - under that row (if it's capable) stop, slow, med and fast rotation of that wheel
Same setup for Gobo wheel 2 (if it has it)
Top Right Side - Positions - I use the old "keep it simple stupid" method - 7 positions and you should be good to fake it. Band, Cross Stage, XXX, Fan, Audience, Roof, DSC - again, use the row method… 1st row is all fixtures in each of those positions. Second row (like colors), 1/2 the rig in one and 1/2 the rig in band and the second cue swaps them
Bottom Right side - effects - this is where I build stacks for effects…flickers, chases, etc.
Save a bottom row on either side for macros…this will help.
For macros, I usually build a few timing macros and a few page macros. The timing macros take a little getting used to since there isn't a global timing assignment available.
I build [1 Cue Time 0], [1 Cue Time 1] [1 Cue Time 2] and [1 Cue Time 3] (macro is Cue 1 Time 0 Enter). Now the key is that you have to TYPE the list number before hitting the macro (ex. on the keyboard, type LIST xxx and then hit the macro to change the timing. I do another set for a 2 cue stack (like the 1/2 and 1/2 ones)… [2 Cue Time 0], [2 Cue Time 1] [2 Cue Time 2] [2 Cue Time 3] - same thing…you have to type the list number first before hitting it.

(continued in next post)

Hi Jon…

Yes, I used to regularly setup consoles for volunteers. It takes quite a bit of programming to be ready. The key is to REALLY sit down and think about what you want and how you want it laid out.

As you're on a Nano, and there are no motorized faders, there are some things you need to keep in mind. Your touchscreen is also going to be key…get the biggest one you can…or two if you can.

Here is how I would lay it out…
Intensities go on the faders. Break things down into groups to allow the most flexibility

Now, on your screen, I would break things down into quadrants.
Top Left Side - Color palettes - row of solid colors (or two), row of dual colors (1/2 the rig in one color, 1/2 the rig in the other color - allowing to you bounce between them..
Bottom Left Side - Beams - (this all depends on your fixtures) - 1 row for Gobo wheel 1 - under that row (if it's capable) stop, slow, med and fast rotation of that wheel
Same setup for Gobo wheel 2 (if it has it)
Top Right Side - Positions - I use the old "keep it simple stupid" method - 7 positions and you should be good to fake it. Band, Cross Stage, XXX, Fan, Audience, Roof, DSC - again, use the row method… 1st row is all fixtures in each of those positions. Second row (like colors), 1/2 the rig in one and 1/2 the rig in band and the second cue swaps them
Bottom Right side - effects - this is where I build stacks for effects…flickers, chases, etc.
Save a bottom row on either side for macros…this will help.
For macros, I usually build a few timing macros and a few page macros. The timing macros take a little getting used to since there isn't a global timing assignment available.
I build [1 Cue Time 0], [1 Cue Time 1] [1 Cue Time 2] and [1 Cue Time 3] (macro is Cue 1 Time 0 Enter). Now the key is that you have to TYPE the list number before hitting the macro (ex. on the keyboard, type LIST xxx and then hit the macro to change the timing. I do another set for a 2 cue stack (like the 1/2 and 1/2 ones)… [2 Cue Time 0], [2 Cue Time 1] [2 Cue Time 2] [2 Cue Time 3] - same thing…you have to type the list number first before hitting it.

(continued in next post)