Common Terms - Blizzard Lighting PROKONTROL MH User Manual

2.5 Common Terms

The following are common terms used in intelligent light programming, so pay
attention! We'll be using many of them throughout the manual.
• Blackout is a state by where all lighting fixtures light output are set
to 0 or off, usually on a temporary basis.
• DMX-512 stands for Digital MultipleX is an industry standard digital
communication protocol used in entertainment lighting equipment.
For more information read the DMX Primer and DMX Control Mode
Sections later in the manual.
• Fixture refers to your lighting instrument or other device such as a
fogger or dimmer of which you can control.
• Programs are a bunch of scenes stacked one after another. It can be
programmed as either a single scene or multiple scenes in sequence.
• Scenes are static lighting states.
• Sliders are a delicious small burger or sandwich, but here they are
used in the same context as faders.
• Chases can also be called programs. A chase consists of a number of
scenes stacked one after another.
• Scanner refers to a lighting instrument with a pan and tilt mirror;
however, in the ProKontrol™ MH controller it can be used to control
any DMX-512 compatible device as a generic fixture.
• MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, and is a
standard for representing musical information in a digital format. A
MIDI input would provide external triggering of scenes using midi
device such as a midi keyboard.
• Stand Alone refers to a fixture's ability to function independently of
an external controller and usually in sync to music, due to a built in
microphone.
• Fade Slider is used to adjust the time between scenes within a
chase.
• Speed Slider affects the amount of time a scene will hold its state. It
is also considered a wait time.
• Shutter is a mechanical device in the lighting fixture that allows you
to block the lights path. It is often used to lessen the intensity of the
light output and to strobe.
• Patching refers to the process of assigning fixtures a DMX channel.
• Playbacks can be either scenes or chases that are directly called to
execution by the user. A playback can also be considered program
memory that can be recalled during a show.
ProKontrol MH Manual Rev. A
Page 7
© 2013 Blizzard Lighting, LLC