To Track of not to Track?

John,

Generally it is a good idea to always use tracking. It is not just a "space saving" tool but also a very useful programming principle.

I do use tracking, I was just wondering if it should ALWAYS be used for some reason. I use it and understand it, but sometimes it's faster to program with out it.

[QUOTE=lightbright] sometimes it's faster to program with out it.

It's faster to program, but slower when you have to go back and edit. Editing a reasonably complex show that's not tracked can be painful. It's a case of pay now or pay later.

For a quick and dirty one-off, do what you need to do to get the show up. But in general, if you have to edit, your life will be easier if you've used tracking.

[quote=ericthegeek]It's faster to program, but slower when you have to go back and edit. Editing a reasonably complex show that's not tracked can be painful. It's a case of pay now or pay later.


Maybe you can explain this a little? If I all of the cues in a list have entirely different information for all parameters, is editing still easier if it was tracked?

If every cue is almost completely different from the previous cue, then there's no real advantage to tracking. How often is that really the case though?

Even if you're changing position, color and gobo, you're likely keeping the focus, Mspeed, and other parameters. If blocking every parameter every time works for what you need, then of course do it.

What matters is that you're thinking about editability as you're writing your show. What kind of edits will you have to make, and how can you make those as efficient as possible. Tracking is one tool for that, as are palettes and scenes.

ok, I get what you're saying. I wasn't thinking about those other settings. Thanks!

How about LED chases? I've got some LEDs that are broken up into 4 sections each with RGB. If I'm making chases that I'll use over and over again, should they be made from palettes? meaning, should I also make a palette that is just 'section 1 Blue'?

And I still don't understand what "maintain state" is doing with tracking