Using Survey - Martin Audio MLA MINI Advanced User's Manual

MLA MINI
DISPLAY 2.2

USING SURVEY

The process of drawing a shell as described above is fine particularly if you have architects
drawings of a venue and are able to create a Display 2.2 project in advance of arriving on site,
but in a touring situation this luxury is rarely available and therefore you may need to measure
the venue when you get to site. The best method is to use a laser measure such as the Leica
Disto D510 which is supplied as part of full MLA and MLA Compact systems and is available
from Martin Audio as an optional accessory. The Distos have been in widespread use for
accurately measuring venues for line array software so most technicians are familiar with their
operation and accuracy. The D510 is one of the most advanced models and has a host of
functions to make getting an accurate interpretation of the venue as quick and easy as possible.
Display 2.2 Mini allows entry of points using a Survey method instead
of entering points as distances on the x and y axis which may be
impossible or at least very difficult to measure on site. Survey allows
you to enter the distance to a specific point and the angle from where
you are taking the measurement. This means that you can stand say
directly under where the array points are and measure from there to all
of the nodes in the venue taking note of the distance and angle which
the Disto can display by selecting the angle display option. (See the
guide supplied with the D510 for more details).
To enter the measurements you first need to enter an approximate 2D
slice with the correct number of nodes as described above. Now click
in the Enable Survey check box. By default leave the Snap to Points
box checked. You will notice that the points list has now changed to
Distance and Angle for each node:
You now need to enter the vertical offset from which you are taking
your measurements, a tripod is strongly recommended to keep things
accurate, the only other way to keep a constant accurate figure is to
measure from the floor in which case enter zero for your vertical offset
but sitting around on cold venue floors is an over-rated pastime so
invest in a reasonable tripod and the job becomes far more civilised.
Measure from the ground to the tripod height you have set up and
enter this figure into the Vertical Offset box. Now click on whichever
point you intend to take your measurements from, you will see the
measurement point selected shown as a yellow diamond. Having checked the Snap to Points box
you can select any position on the slice and drag along it but when you get close to the nodes
the measurement diamond will jump directly onto the node, without it you can select any point
along the venue without the snap action close to the nodes.
Now click on one of the positions on the list of points top left that you wish to enter the
dimensions, in the following picture, the stage is 2 metres high and 8 metres deep with the
flying points 0.5 metres off stage. All points were entered very quickly and using the method
described above, the first 4 nodes were corrected. Enable Survey was then selected and the array
flying point node 4 was selected. We want to measure to node 8 at the bottom of the front of the
balcony so we click on the distance figure for that node:
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MLA Mini Display 2.2 V1.0