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[duane massey]

Maybe this will help some of you with the Showdesigners. This is my normal approach to programming chases. I will try to add some notes on Scenes and other basic items that the manual(s) don't seem to explain.

An Alternate Method For Showdesigner Chases

1- Select all fixtures to be included in Chase
2- Open shutter/dim and position fixtures to see the beams
3- Press Record
4- Press Chase
5- Press Fixture
6- Using pan & tilt (sliders or joystick) set desired position(s) for first step
  IMPORTANT: Do not move any other sliders!!
7- Press Chase, press Enter
8- Repeat steps 5, 6, and 7 UNTIL you reach the last step of your chase
9- After positions are adjusted for last step of chase, press Chase but do not press Enter
10- Using the up/down arrows select the page where you want to store the new chase
11- Press the # (1-16) of the location desired.
12- Press Record to exit record mode
 NOTE: You can also set the speed and/or fade rates before you store the Chase.

This chase will only affect pan and tilt movements. All other functions (gobo, color, shutter/dimmer, motor speed, etc) must be either set manually or with another chase.

To store as Scene:
1- Press Chase and selecting desired chase.
2-Press Fixture and select all fixtures that are included in this chase.
3- Open shutter/dimmer
4- Adjust any/all functions as desired EXCEPT pan/tilt
5- Adjust speed/fade if desired by Pressing Chase
6- When you have made all adjustments, press Record
7- Select page # and press #1-16 to store chase as Scene.

The original chase will remain intact. You can modify the scene and store it as a new scene and the original scene will remain intact.

You can “stack” chases IF the individual chases do not contain the same function(s). For example, you can program a chase w/ color changes and run it a along with a p/t chase. I use color/ shutter/ and gobo chases quite a bit. You can also do “pan only” and “tilt only” chases and make some interesting looks this way by varying the speed/fade of each chase. Not necessarily as precise as individual steps but a quick way to get different looks from the same basic set-up.

[duane massey]

Sorry, meant to add that anyone else with tips or suggestions should feel free to share them here. I am far from an expert on these guys, and my expertise is limited to my own applications and experiences.

[John Livings]

Hi Duane,

Thanks for posting, I am trying to put together a "Quick Start Guide" for the SD-2,

This will help get me get going.

Again thanks.

Regards,  John

[duane massey]

The SD2 is a great mid-size controller. It's got a few features and functions that the SD1 doesn't have, and the availability of 48 fixture/scene/chase buttons alone justifies the extra $$$ for anyone that's not on a very limited budget. I have used the SD2 in most of my installations lately.

The SD3 is almost a different creature. The price puts it somewhat out of reach for mid-level applications, but it is a great choice for churches, mixed use venues, and live venues with a part-time LD.

[Rob Spence]

I bought a used SD1 as I need an appliance for me to run (I am a sound guy) when my lighting guru (who uses MagicQ) isn't around.
So, given the state of most of the manuals I have read (seem like they are reference - not instruction and not in English grammar), a getting started guide for these sort of things would sure be welcome.

[duane massey]

Rob, where are you starting? Are the fixtures already addressed for the other controller?

[Rob Spence]

Rob, where are you starting? Are the fixtures already addressed for the other controller?

I have a bunch of LED Par units (2 groups of 2 different units), some strips, a couple of movers (not yet figured out) and some conventional dimmers (used with elipsoidals and PARs).
We built an address map of all the units in a spreadsheet.
Sometimes we set more than one unit to the same address for ease of programming (I used to use MyDMX and it was simple enough - but only one chase at a time - and no manual control if the chase was running).
We thought that by preassigning all fixtures we could make shows that used some or all and not need to play with addressing at a show (except to set the dip switches back to where they belong after being moved in transit).

So, to answer your question, I need to get my head around the concepts of the desk so I know what to do first (and how) then next...
I use Yamaha digital audio mixers and get all the concepts in the audio world but am having trouble getting a first show up and running so I have a starting point to learn more complex stuff.

Pointers to good reading would be great too!

[duane massey]

You can set up the SD1 to mimic your current set-up as long as you don't exceed the limits of the controller (512 DMX channels, 16 Fixtures, which can be worked around to use more fixtures).

You will need to either find fixtures in the controller's library or modify an existing fixture profile to match your fixtures. Easy to do, but it will be generic in that there will be no labels in the display, just channel #'s. Unless you are in love with the joystick (I personally HATE the damn thing) don't assign any channel to pan and tilt. If you want to keep your existing DMX addresses intact, turn off the auto-patch and manually enter all the addresses after you have assigned all the fixtures.
I typically do all my playback from the Scene function. Scenes can contain both Chases and static looks. If you work with the same band you can set up one page of 16 Scenes for each song. If you work with a variety of acts you can set up a variety of pages for different generic songs/genres. Plan on lots of pre-programming to get the most out of your system.
You can use the Preset function for stationary/static scenes, but it doesn't work on Chases.
This can be useful if you use scanners/movers for spot purposes.
You can manually control the fixtures by selecting the desired fixture(s). The cool thing about the SD1 is that the Scene/Chase will run normally until you actually move a slider, and then only the slider that has been moved will override the Scene. Once you have moved the slider, of course, that function be be over-ridden until you select another scene.
Hope this helps. Feel free to contact me via email.

[Rob Spence]

A silly question but I can't seem to find it anywhere...
SD1 RS232 port. What are the settings (speed, parity, word size)?

[duane massey]

I'm not a computer guy, but this what I know. To use the port you have download the software from Elation for back-up purposes, and you need a lap-link cable to use the port. You can go from controller to controller directly, but to update the software or to back-up the controller to a PC you have to use the software and have a COM port on the PC (or a reliable USB/COM adapter).
I'm guessing this is not a real RS232 port, but you probably know more about PC's than I do.

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