The Avolites Discussion Forum

Here's the scenario:
After programming for several hours for rock and roll stage looks, the IMAG folks complain about the stage being too dark right at the beginning of the show. We change the color of the downstage fixtures to open white in takeover mode, so that the cues and chases will run as planned but the color won't change. This of course means that the add and swop buttons for the presets and playbacks are disabled. Instead of running the whole show in takeover mode just to keep these specific fixtures in open white, is there a way to "park" their color attribute, or even those specific DMX channels at whatever value open white is for the duration?
I looked through the manual but was unable to find an answer.
Thanks...

You could switch to program mode, set the values there, and then move to "normal run" mode.. All values will still be in the programmer as far as I know. But I've never really tried it.

Unfortunately I don't think this will work. Programmer information will be removed when switching modes.

However, there is a trick.... I'm not sure whether this is specific to 2004 software or not.

When in Run Mode Normal, you can access Groups and Palettes from the 'Input' Screen (numeric key).
If you set up group(s) beforehand, you can use this cheat to select fixtures even in RMN. From here you can change attributes as normal and they will enter the programmer!
Note that you can also apply palettes in this manner, either by selecting groups as above, or directly in conjunction with Quick Palette. You can even enter the Softbutton Palettes menu (Legends) by pressing the 'Focus' button once in the Input screen.

Cool -- I'll try that! Sounds like a bug, though (or at least an oversight), so i wonder if they'll have fixed it in version 1.1 -- i'm sure not everyone wants their palette selections entering the programmer when they think they're safe in Run Mode Normal. Thanks for the suggestion!

I reported it as a bug quite some time ago, but thankfully it was not worth the trouble (or possibly extra code) to remove it. This will not be changed in the new build AFAIK - there's no way you could do this accidentally. (unless you are a monkey )

However, I did try it today and it appeared that even though the information showed as in the programmer, PB's would still override, except intensity channels. I only checked it quickly and could easily be wrong!

[No offense was intended to monkeys in this post]