Scene Masters - Elation SHOW DESIGNER 2CF User Manual

SCENE MASTERS

The 8 faders can also be used to call scenes. In this mode the faders allow manual control of the
crossfading between scenes. You will also be able to run up to 8 scenes at the same time. To use
the faders this way, the "masters" LED must be lit as well and the "scene" LED. Scenes 1 through 32
of the currently selected scene page can then be called using 4 banks of 8 faders. Use the "bank"
switch next to the faders to select from 1 of 4 banks of 8 faders.
To start a scene, first move the fader all the way to the bottom to reset it. If the fader is already at the
bottom it doesn't need to be reset. The corresponding scene will be assigned to the fader as it is
moved upwards. Any chases that are part of the scene will start at this time. Channels that are set to
snap at the start of a fade will also move to the new scene levels right away. Channels that are set to
snap at the end of a fade will move to their new scene levels when the fader reaches the top. All
channels set to crossfade will follow the movement of the fader. Using the scene masters allows 8
scenes to be running at the same time provided they are controlling different channels. A new scene
that uses some of the same channels as a scene that is already active will steal those channels.
NOTE: To use the faders as scene masters, the "masters" LED must be lit and the "scene" LED
must be lit. The scene will be called from the current scene page that is shown in the page
display. That scene will stay attached to that fader until that fader is reset (moving it to the
bottom position). The scene will stay with that fader even if you change fader banks or scene
pages until that fader is reset.
HOW THE SCENE MASTERS WORK
The Show Designer 2CF is designed primarily for controlling moving lights so almost every function
is "LTP" or "latest or last action takes precedence". For those familiar with lighting controllers in
general you know that moving lights work best using this type of system rather than "HTP" or
"highest takes precedence" which is designed to control dimmers. With LTP, whenever a new action
takes place such as calling a scene or moving a fader (the latest action), any lighting channel that is
under the control of that action is changed to the new value.
A scene master gives you manual control of the crossfade of all channels within a scene. It also
gives you the ability to pull back the fader allowing you to move back and forth between the current
settings and a new scene. For this to happen the SD2 takes a snap shot of all channels that are
included in the scene to set the "pull back" values. Any channels that are not part of the scene won't
be included. As you move a fader up past the trigger point, which is just slightly up from the bottom,
a snap shot is saved. Any chases in the scene are also started at this time. As you move the fader
up, the channels will follow the fader towards the new scene, if you pull the fader back the channels
will return to their original values. Channels that snap instead of crossfade will change only at the top
or bottom of the fader travel.
Be aware that this can cause problems if you are trying to operate the scene masters as dimming
masters as on an HTP console. When a scene master on the SD2 takes control of a dimmer, it will
take a snap shot of the current value, high or low, and use that as the pull back value. When you pull
the master back the dimmer might not go to 0, but instead to whatever the start value was. To work
around this problem and create a master fader that controls dimmers only, you must first record a
scene that only contains dimmer channels. To do this, start building the scene by first clearing all
channels. Do this by holding down the black switch till its LED goes off. This clears the scene editor.
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