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    colin wood
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Adding an option to the "Wait" column

This feature request came to me after a DSM made an error and called a cue too early. Fixtures were still fading off that were used in the next cue in different positions. As the next cue had a 30 second fade in time you can imagine how ugly that looked as everything very slowly moved and flicked through gobos!

It got me thinking about having a new option for the Wait column, which would not allow the cue to be played until all marking had been completed.

So in my scenario above, when the operator was told to press GO too early, the current cue would continue and as fixtures reached zero they would mark, and only when everything was marked the next cue would then continue to run. This could be indicated with a flashing red box perhaps in the wait column.

I'd like to see the Goto command still be able to move past the cue, but not the GO command, unless everything is positioned first.

I think this could be a very useful option to help prevent seeing live moves at critical points in a performance.

Thoughts anyone?
  • Split the cue.

    Using your scenario -- write a new first cue (Q101) containing only 0% intensity for the fixtures requiring marking. This is the called cue.

    The second cue (Q101.2) is your original cue now auto-following (or Follow + 1, etc) the first cue.

    You can either set the mark attribute for the second cue or insert & auto-follow your own manual mark between cues (Q101.1).

    No matter when the cue is called, the marked channels will always play after marking (unless the board op double/triple taps the GO button).

    --L.
  • Thankyou for your reply.

    This above "work around" does not solve the issue I had as the cue point for the 2nd cue is not fixed and cannot auto follow. The above request still stands please.
  • I'm unclear on your scenario. Sitting in Q91 your DSM called Q92 and then called Q93 early. Because Q93 was called early (before Q92 had a chance to complete), some fixtures hadn't faded out and therefore hadn't marked properly. Is this correct?

    --L.
  • Yes this is correct.

    So to take your example, cue 93 cannot be a timed follow on as it would depend on the cast movements so it needs to be manual. My request would mean making the best out of the cue being called too early. Of course it would still be in the wrong place but would at least be tidy
  • Thanks for the reply. I wasn't clear in my initial reply: I apologize.

    My suggestion was to add a *new* Q93 with only the channels/fixture requiring marking set to 0% intensity. Your "old" Q93 becomes Q93.2 (or Q93.5, etc) and is auto-followed from the *new* Q93. Your DSM still calls Q93, however this is now "just" a fade-out/marking cue with the designed cue auto-followed. In the event that Q93 is called early, the channels which require marking will still fade out, mark and then your designed cue auto-follows with everything properly marked. The only time this wouldn't work is if the board operator double taps the GO button when Q93 is called.

    I hope my explanation is a bit better.

    --L.
  • Isn't all the spam lovely at the moment?!!

    Right back to this thread....indeed, you are absolutely correct. Now, please see your example of an operator hitting GO twice, too close together in the same way as the DSM calling 2 cues too close together. This is exactly what my request is about. Of course you can add all these extra cues in like you say but it doesn't fix the fundamental problem of it is possible to hit GO too soon and fixtures will not have marked. Sometimes you can get away with this not looking too bad and other times it can look terrible.

    Therefore, I want an option to set the cues where it would look terrible if this double GO happened, so that even though the operator has hit GO twice by mistake, or the DSM has called 2 cues too close together, the console WILL NOT play the second cue until all marking has completed.

    It's about making the best out of a bad situation. Ideally all cues would be played at the right time, but this way, for example, if cue 2 is a very long timed cue, you won't have all your fixtures very slowly moving to their correct position. Instead, the cue will simply wait, and then GO once fixtures have marked. It may well still be too early for the show, but at least it will not be messy.

    I hope i've made my request clear now and justified my reasons for the request.
  • Give Michael time to wake up... Just 7:30 in the morning in Texas...
    He is in the Lab from 9:00 on... Will clean up that mess soon

    And to your idea it is an nice one.
    In the meantime for the cues with the long fade time and the slow movement:
    Why dont you mark with a set time and not the fadetime of the cue in these situations?

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