I'm curious if what I was told about the MA platform is correct, and also if there are other platforms where I can apply pre-existing programming to the various lighting systems I am asked to operate.
Hi James, the answer to both questions is "yes". While there are many different approaches to doing this, the crux usually lies within palette programming.
As a basic example, let's say I want a simple color chase on some Mac Vipers from Red to White to Blue. Instead of programming the chase discretely with the Vipers' color wheels I'd program the chase to use Color Palette 1, 2, and 3. Separately, I'd then program my 3 palettes to call the three colors from the Mac Vipers. If I then switch to a system with Robe Pointes I'd just need to update my 3 palettes - any subsequent programming which calls on those 3 palettes will automatically update to reference the Pointes instead of the Vipers.
Many consoles take this even a step further to allow for fixture grouping, where a group of one or many types of fixtures called to execute a specific color palette will do so, so long as the fixtures are physically capable of producing the desired effect. In this case all I'd need to do is update my Group selections to reference the new fixtures, and 'most' color/beam/focus palettes will track through automatically.
It'll never be perfect and you'll always need to do a bit of adjusting when working on a new rig for the first time, but proper forethought in programming means the difference between a 1hr job and a 3 day job. If looking to a new console, the pecking order today is usually MA3, Hog4, ChamSys, and then "everything else". Hope this helps!
