Show Designer 3 Software Revision 1.
OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................................................................................1 REAR PANEL CONNECTIONS ............................................................................................................................................1 TOP PANEL ......................................................................................................................................................
CHASES ....................................................................................................................................................................................18 RECORDING CHASES .......................................................................................................................................................18 SHAPE CHASE ...........................................................................................................................................
OVERVIEW The Show Designer 3 is a stage lighting controller based on the simple to use Show Designer 1 and Show Designer 2. The Show Designer 3 offers all of the same features and much more. It is designed to simplify the programming process as much as possible while still offering lots of power at a low cost. If you are already familiar with the SD1 and SD2 then you will find the SD3 to be an easy step forward. The SD3 gives you control over 1536 DMX lighting channels using three DMX 512 outputs.
TOP PANEL The top panel is divided into four sections. The upper left section contains the flex faders with their flash and page select buttons. The upper right section contains the 48 multi-purpose number switches with their function select switches just above. The lower left section contains the playback masters with their flash and page select buttons. The lower right section contains the display with cursor buttons, joystick, data wheels and performance switches.
MENU AND SETUP FUNCTIONS The menu switch, which is located just above the display, is used to access the menus that allow you to configure the Show Designer 3 for your particular lighting setup. Pressing the menu switch displays the message “Select a menu item then press enter” on the top line of the display. You will be given a choice of menu items on the bottom line of the display. You can cycle through the choices using the + and - switches or data wheel 1. Press “enter” to select the desired menu item.
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.
COPY FIXTURE This menu is used to copy the fixture type from one location to another. This feature saves time by letting you copy a fixture choice rather than searching through the list each time you need to add a fixture. This is also useful when you modify a fixture and need to duplicate it. Use the + and - switches or data wheels 1 and 2 to select a fixture number to copy from and to. You must press “enter” to complete the copy process.
SELECT HOME SCENE This menu selects a home scene that will be called automatically whenever you use the “clear all” function. A “clear all” is done by holding down the blackout switch for 2 seconds. This resets all of the channels and empties the scene record buffer. After the clear all is finished, the home scene is then called. This can be used to call up a default lighting configuration for creating new scenes. For example, all beams centered, full intensity at white is useful for building a new scene.
than 0. You may also want to blackout all channels to a value other than 0 as this is sometimes used as a reset by some fixtures. For some fixtures the value 1 will achieve the same result as 0. Dimmer Channel is the channel used by the fixture for dimming. This will only work for a fixture that has a full range (0 to 255) dimmer channel. The grand master fader will control this channel as well as the playback faders when in HTP mode. If there is no dimmer on the fixture, set this to “none”.
Magenta Channel is used to create color chase effects. Yellow Channel is used to create color chase effects. MULTI FIXTURE The Show Designer 3 supports fixtures that use up to 32 DMX channels. Since many fixtures use fewer than 32 channels, this feature will allow you to configure a group of smaller fixtures that are of the same type, under a single fixture number. For example if you have selected a 4 channel scanner for fixture number 1, you can set multi to 8.
LOAD MEMORY FILE FROM CF This loads a memory file from a compact flash card. Insert the card with the memory backup file then press “enter” to display the message “Select memory file, then press enter”. The name of the first SD3 memory file found on the card will appear on the bottom line of the display, use the + or - switch or data wheel 1 to select the desired file. Press “enter” to load the file. Warning: the current memory will be overwritten.
CONTROLLING LIGHT FIXTURES The SD3 allows you to take direct control of moving light fixture channels at any time. There is no edit mode as with some lighting controllers. You are essentially always in edit mode and can instantly save the current stage settings as a scene. This is one reason the Show Designer is so quick and easy to program. NUMBER SWITCHES 1-48 and FUNCTION SWITCHES The switches in the upper right section numbered 1-48 are multi-purpose.
save it. To erase an existing fixture group, press the erase switch at any time during the record process and then select the fixture group that you want to erase. If the Solo LED is lit when selecting a group, any moving light fixtures in the group will move to center (pan and tilt at 128) with the dimmer and shutter channels set to full value. USING THE DATA WHEELS TO CONTROL FIXTURE CHANNELS The data wheels are used to increment or decrement the values in the display fields directly above each wheel.
FINE The fine button affects the way the joystick and the data wheels operate. With fine mode on, they will increment or decrement by the smallest possible amount. With fine mode off, they will increment or decrement by larger amounts. If a fixture profile is installed for a selected fixture, selecting fine mode will switch the channel wheel display to number values instead of name values such as color or gobo names. This can be useful for splitting colors or gobos.
CONTROLLING CONVENTIONAL DIMMERS The Show Designer 3 can control up to 128 conventional dimmers. They can be programmed from the flex faders or by entering percentage values using an external keyboard. Dimmers must first be patched using the “Patch Conventional Dimmers” menu as explained in the menu chapter of this manual. To use the flex faders as dimmer controls, you must go to the “Select Flex Fader Mode” menu and select “conventional dimmers”.
WORKING WITH MEMORIES The SD3 provides four types of memories: presets, chases, scenes and shows. Presets and chases are used as building blocks along with static channel levels to create scenes. Shows are simply scene lists. All four memory types can be assigned to playback faders or called up directly by selecting their memory page and number. RECORD To the far right of the six function switches is the record switch. This is used to start the record process for all of the memories as well as playbacks.
If at any time you wish to exit record mode without recording anything, press the record switch and its LED will stop flashing. RECALLING SCENES To play a scene, press the scene switch and turn on its LED. Select the scene page if necessary and then press the number switch for that scene.
or “no”. If you press “yes” the scene will be erased. You can then select additional scenes to be erased or you can press “record” to exit record mode. PRESETS A preset is a simple collection of channel settings for a single light fixture or group of fixtures. Presets are used as building blocks for scenes and provide fast and easy programming by giving you instant access to colors, beam settings, etc. Presets can save memory because many scenes can reference the same preset.
To save the preset, select the page and number where you want to store it. If you select a number that is already lit, a message will appear asking if you want to write over the existing preset. Press “yes” or “no”. You can use the page switches to select pages 1 to 24 allowing you to store up to 1152 presets. You cannot record over or edit the factory presets on pages F1 through F4. After saving a preset, record mode stays active allowing you to continue to record more presets.
COMBINING PRESETS You can add existing presets to any preset you are currently working on. While in preset record mode press the add switch followed by any preset number that has something recorded on it. The channel settings will be added to the preset you are currently recording. You can combine as many presets as you want. You can use this to mix several smaller presets into a single larger one. If two presets control the same channels, the channel levels from the last one added will have precedence.
The first thing to do when creating a shape chase is to select the fixtures to be included. When you select “shape chase” the fixture select LED is lit so that you can begin selecting fixtures right away. The current pan and tilt location of each fixture will be used as the center of the shape. You can use the joystick to move the centers at any time while recording the shape chase.
want to use the beat control for some chases but not for others. You can enter a name for the chase on the second page of the chase record display. Turn off the fixture LED in order to view the available memory locations then press the number switch where you want to save the chase. After you have saved the chase, the record and chase LEDs will continue to flash, allowing you to continue to add to or edit the chase in case you would like to save a slightly different version at another location.
record up to 256 steps. You can enter empty steps by pressing “enter” before changing any channels. These empty steps can be used to lengthen the time between steps or you can record something into these empty steps later. As you are recording steps you can at any time move from step to step by using data wheel 1. You can select and edit each recorded step this way. When you press “enter” while at the last recorded step of a chase, you will add an additional step to the end.
while you are adjusting these settings to see the result. If you are using a mixture of fixtures that don’t match, make sure the range is within the limits of all fixtures. If you set the end beyond the range of a fixture it will simply pause while the unused steps are being called. Use wheel 4 to adjust an offset if desired. Offset works similar to the shape chase offset so that each fixture will be offset from the next by the number of steps you select.
“no”. If you press “yes” the chase will be erased. You can abort chase erase at any time by either pressing “no” or by exiting record mode by pressing the record switch. RECALLING CHASES To run a chase, press the chase switch, and then press the desired page and number switch. The chase will begin to run at the speed that was selected when it was recorded. Pressing the same switch again will turn the chase off. You can run more than one chase (up to 16) as long as they are chasing different channels.
SHOWS A show is a list of scenes that can run on a timer or play manually using the “go”, “stop” and “back” buttons. This is sometimes referred to as a stack or cue list by other controllers. Show Designer 3 lets you record up to 24 pages of 48 shows for a total of 1152. Shows are good for running the controller without an operator or for productions that don’t require changes on the fly. To create simple effects and repetitive movements use chases rather than shows.
+ or - switch or data wheel 1 to change the character. You can also use an external keyboard to enter the name characters. If you want another show to automatically be called when this one ends, set the link to “on” and select the page and show number for the linked show. If you enable a link, looping will be turned off. If you are running in manual mode, make sure the linked show is also set to manual, otherwise the clock will restart when the linked show is called.
“go” and “back” to manually step forward or backwards in the show while it is paused. Press “stop” again to turn off the LED and restore the clock. If you programmed the show as manual, you must use the go and back switches to step forwards or backwards. If you press “go” while the clock is running the show will jump ahead to the next step. If the show is set to loop, it will play continuously, restarting after the last step’s hold time has counted down to 0 or when you press “go” (manual mode).
PERFORMANCE CONTROLS To the left of the four wheels are eight buttons that are mostly used for live performance. The following describes the functions for each of these. PREVIEW The preview switch is used along with the go switch to preview memories before calling them. With the preview LED lit, you can select scenes, presets, chases or shows using the 48 memory select buttons and the display will show the page and number as well as the name of the selected memory.
BEAT The beat switch lets you override the step time or beat of a chase by tapping on the switch in time to music that is playing. The LED will flash in time to the beat that is tapped in. Any chases that are running will sync to this beat unless the speed has been locked for the chase. Read the previous chapter on recording chases as to how to lock the chase speed. Pressing the beat switch will automatically turn off audio. To turn off the beat, press and hold the beat switch for one second.
PLAYBACK MASTERS Scenes, presets, chases and shows can all be assigned to playback faders. There are 32 pages of 8 faders giving you a total of 256 playbacks. In addition you can configure the flex faders as playbacks giving you 256 more. Each playback fader has a flash button just above it that is used for programming and performance functions. For performance, it can be set to operate in flash, latch or go mode. Each playback can be configured individually to operate in LTP or HTP mode.
back to where they were in case you have started a playback in error. Any chases will begin when the playback starts and then stop when the playback fader is pulled back to 0. Pressing a flash button is the same as moving a fader to its highest level. Channels that are set to “snap before fade” will change at the start of the playback, those set to “snap after fade” will change when the fader is at the top position.
used to advance the show steps. The playback button must be set to “go” mode for this to work properly. The dimmers that are part of the show’s scenes will follow the level of the playback fader. The playback buttons can be set to “flash”, “on/off” or “go” modes. A button set to “flash” or “on/off” mode is essentially a bump button. Pressing the button triggers the playback memory and brings the HTP levels to max, the same as if you moved the fader to the highest level.
MIDI Show Designer 3 allows you to call scenes and blackouts from the MIDI input. The scene page and number can be encoded in a MIDI continuous controller message sent to the MIDI input by a computer or MIDI sequencer. You will have to use the tools provided with the MIDI program you are working with to create and send the correct MIDI message. The MIDI channel for the SD3 is selected using the setup menu as explained earlier in this manual.
USING THE COMPACT FLASH The Compact flash uses CF cards that are formatted using the Windows FAT16 file system. Cards formatted using FAT32 will not work. You will get the error message “format error” if you try to use the wrong type. When reformatting a card with your PC select “FAT” rather than “FAT32” for the file system. This will format the card with FAT16. Card sizes up to 2G are supported. Not all manufacturers’ CF cards have been tested on the SD3. We recommend using San Disk cards.
setup menu “update software”, and press “enter”. The Show Designer 3 will begin reading the file. The message “receiving new program” will appear in the display. After the software is successfully updated the Show Designer 3 will reboot with the new version installed. If there are any errors, an error message will appear and you will have to start over. INSTALL FIXTURE PROFILES Fixture profiles are small files that are available from elationlighting.
USING THE COM PORT (RS-232) The RS-232 port can be used to connect the SD3 to a personal computer to do memory backups, software updates and to load fixture profiles. You will need to get a 9 pin null modem cable. Use this cable to connect the RS-232 port on the Show Designer 3 to the COM port on your PC. If you don’t have a COM port on your PC, you will have to get a USB to COM port conversion cable. Follow the instructions that come with the cable to set it up as COM 1 or 2.
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FIXTURE LIBRARY The following is a list of fixtures in the internal library. The internal library is only used when you don’t have a profile installed for a fixture. Whenever possible, use a fixture profile when choosing fixtures.
32 DMX Channels Elation Active Scan/Wave Elation Alkalite 6 Channels Elation CMY Zoom 250 Elation CMY Zoom 575 Elation LED 12 Brick, LED 60 Strip Elation Design LED 36 Elation Design LED 36MH Elation Design LED 36UV, 36WA Elation Design LED Brick 36 – 6 chan. mode Elation Design LED Panel 72IP – 6 chan.
Martin MX10 Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe Robe ArcPower 270 ArcPower 36 ArcPower 72 Beam 250 XT Clubroller 150 CT Clubroller 250 CT Clubscan 150 CT Clubscan 250 CT Clubspot 150 CT Clubspot 160 CT Clubspot 250 CT Clubspot 300 Clubspot 500 CT Clubspot 600 CT Clubwash 250 CT Clubwash 300 CT Clubwash 500 CT Clubwash 600 CT Color Mix 150AT Profile Color Mix 1
FIRMWARE REVISION HISTORY There are two types of firmware on the SD3, micro and flash. The micro is located on the microprocessor and contains the basic functions needed for startup plus some essential operating system routines. This is programmed into the microprocessor at the factory and can only be updated by changing the microprocessor. The revision of the micro firmware is displayed on the power up screen right after the flash firmware revision, preceded by the letter “M”. The latest version is M3.
When updating to software revision 1.13 from earlier versions, certain features need to be reset to work properly. If you can erase the entire memory, this will reset everything for you as long as you are able to give up everything that is in the memory. If you need to keep what is in the memory or need to load in a memory file from an earlier version, you will have to manually reset the following things. Any fixture groups will have to be re-recorded since the previous ones will be lost after the upgrade.
