ETC Express light board programming????

Question

My school recently built a new PAC. In this theatre, they have installed a new ETC Express 48/96 light board. Because our school is so small, though, we did not hire a technical director to run or show people how to operate the board.

My school has asked me to learn how to run the board because of my limited prior experience with technical theatre. I know basic board programming (adding/deleting cues, programming subs, changinging fade times, etc.), but I would like to learn much more , as I can only do very simple light designs with this limited knowledge.

If someone could give me step-by-step (button-by-button) instructions on how to save and load shows to/from disc, how to delete entire shows, and how to do other types of cues, I would be very grateful. If you can provide a good link on how to run the board, that also would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Also, I am extremely interested in learning how to program chases, by which I mean repeating sequences of groups of lights that alternate when activated as a single cue, All that I know about doing this is that it has something to do with a program called "macro" If anyone know what I am babbling about, I would appreciate instructions or a referral.

Thanks again!

Answer 1

Programming the Light Board (click on 1st link)

PROGRAMMING ETC Impression/Expression/Express LIGHT BOARDS (2nd link)

PROGRAMMING LIGHT INDICATORS (3rd link)

Sorry, I know nuts about this topic, but I hope the links will help you. You mentioned in an earlier post you live in a small community. It's probably larger than the country I live in! (I live in Asia)

Answer 2

I think the DMX start field should be the address # you have given the fixture. Remember, moving lights require multiple channels. Check the manual for the correct amount for your fixtures. I don't know if this will help because I do this a different way, but... If you plug your cyberlights into the DMX512 port, you can control the lights' attributes the same way you control regular (static) channels. I have used the Express to run moving lights in this way. Basically, I set up 1 submaster per attribute. For example, if the light requires 10 channels, I might patch them to channels 1- 10, set up subs 1-10 and control each attribute via the sub. I then build effects (Blind+Type+3) based on the levels that I want for each attribute. I don't think this is quite the answer you are looking for, but if you can't figure out the Moving Light Functions, this might be your best bet.