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address or output. To turn auto patch on or off, place the cursor under the words “ON” or
“OFF” below “Autopatch”, then use the + or - switch or use data wheel 4 to make the change.
You must press “enter” for the change to take effect. If you are turning auto patch on, a
warning will appear telling you that some DMX starting addresses may change. Press “yes” to
proceed or “no” to exit. Auto patch will automatically assign an address to each moving light
fixture in ascending order with each fixture address immediately following the previous fixture.
The first fixture will be assigned to DMX out 1 at address 1. After 512 channels have been used,
DMX out 2 and then out 3 will be used for any remaining fixtures.
Use data wheel 1 to select fixtures 1-48 to see the starting address and out port assigned to
each fixture. You can move the cursor under any of the three digits of the channel number or
use data wheel 3 to select a new starting address as long as auto patch is turned off. You must
press “enter” to record any change. The message “Done” will appear for 1 second to confirm.
NOTE: Autopatch will automatically place any conventional dimmers at addresses just above
the last moving light fixture. If the dimmers are already patched at an address higher than the
moving light fixtures, they will not be changed.
PATCH CONVENTIONAL DIMMERS
The Show Designer 3 supports up to 128 conventional dimmers, these can be dimmer modules
controlling par cans, house lights or even things like fog machines. Conventional dimmers are
controlled by the flex faders or by typing in dimmer values using an external keyboard. Please
read the chapter on using conventional dimmers for additional information.
Each conventional dimmer can be assigned to one of the flex faders. There are 16 pages of 8
flex faders giving you a total of 128 fader assignments that are available. Each dimmer can also
control up to eight consecutive DMX channels allowing you to assign a group of DMX channels
to a single fader. The entire group will be locked to the same dimmer level as set by the fader.
This is useful when you are controlling house lights or whole sections of stage dimmers as a
single unit. In addition to selecting the DMX channel and number of dimmers, you can also
choose to put the dimmer into manual mode so that it can only be controlled using its fader or
flash button (good for fog machines). You can also select the flash button to operate as
momentary flash or latching on/off and you can enter a text name for the dimmer. These last
three items are programmed using the second page of the dimmer patching menu. Move the
underline cursor on the display to the right to get to the second page.
On the first page of the patch dimmers menu, using data wheel 1, select the fader number and
page for the dimmer. You can also select the fader by pressing the flash button over the flex
fader. The flex faders must be configured as conventional dimmers for this to work. Until the
dimmer is patched, all of the other fields will be blank. Use data wheel 2 to select the DMX out
and data wheel 3 to select the DMX channel for the dimmer. As soon as you move one of these
wheels the next available DMX address will appear in the field. You can then select a different
address if needed. Use data wheel 4 to select the number of consecutive DMX addresses to be
controlled by this dimmer. In most cases this will be 1. Use the right arrow switch to move the
underline cursor all the way to the right side of the display and past to get to the second page
of the menu. There, use data wheel 1 to select the operation mode for this dimmer. “Memory”
allows the dimmer to be included in and controlled by any memory, “Manual” will exclude the
dimmer from memory functions and only allow it to be controlled using its fader or flash
switch. Use data wheel 2 to select how the flash button will function, either as momentary flash
or latching on/off. You can also enter a name for this dimmer by moving the cursor under the
name field and by using data wheels 3 and 4 to enter characters or you can use an external
keyboard. After all fields have been set, press “enter” to save.