Grand MA2 Help Page

Presets

what is a preset

a preset is a space on the console to store information for instance gobos, intensity, colour and position

presets are a valuable tool for speeding up your programming

any preset that you program into cues the console will remember the preset that was used it will automatically update the cues if you change the contents of the presets

the cues reference the preset

to create a preset

1. select some fixtures 2. give them the data that you want 3. open a preset pool in a view 4. press store and press an empty preset 5. label the presets

updating a preset process

1. starting from a cleared programmer press the clear button three times 2. select your fixtures and turn them on 3. recall the preset by pressing it 4. make the desired changes 5. press the update button 6. check the correct preset has appeared on the screen 7. press the update preset button to confirm

Patching

user profile

the user profile allows the programmer to keep their settings and views that are personal to them. when you move to new consoles you can import your user profile into the console this ensures that any time the default settings are changed or you store a view it can be reused again in the future

setup menu

the setup menu is divided up into 4 headings these are: show, console, user and network

patching patching is the process of telling the console which fixtures you are going to use you can tell it the fixture type, and the DMX Address and give them identity numbers the window is broken into two halves

on one side we have layers layers are a way of organizing your patch you could use layers to separate them out by fixture type or by location based on where they are in the rig when you select a layer the right-hand side will display the contents of the layer this is the actual patch layers a vital tool for a good MA programmer as they enable them to separate out the patch into easier-to-read sections

patching a step-by-step guide

1. press setup

2. select patch & fixture schedule

3. when you have no layers and you've got an empty show file the console will prompt you to create a new layer

4. name the layer e.g generics or dimmers.

5. this will open the fixture wizard

6. specify the type of fixture that you want to patch by default it will have just two options available a generic dimmer personality a button that says from the library which will bring up the fixture library

7. once you have specified the type of fixture that you want to patch it will provide you with a green form to fill in

you can name your fixtures from this form

MA has a dual numbering system these are fixture id and channel id by default generic fixtures will be patched with channel ids not fixture ids

moving lights will have fixture ids

you can also specify either fixture id numbers and channel numbers or one or the other

the next option is patch break 1 this is the universe and address box.

once you are happy with your patching press the apply button

no changes are made until you press the close button the console will give you a pop-up to say you are leaving the patch & fixture schedule do you want to save changes if you press yes the desk will save your patch if you press cancel you will be returned to your patch and will be able to carry on working if you press no your changes will not be saved and you will lose all of the changes you have made

patch only (live)

This window is known as a safe window within MA no fixtures cannot be added or changed in such a way that would drastically alter the show. You can change the DMX address and the name of the fixtures if the patch is needed to be opened during a show then you can do it from this window. Caution is advised when opening the patch and fixture schedule during a show. you could cause some issues if you try and operate the show file with the patch and fixture schedule window open.

Stage view

The stage view is a wireframe view of the stage

It uses simple line graphics to show you stage elements, fixtures and beams of light

It can be helpful to utilize this view to preview the stage

Controlling Fixtures

One useful set of buttons on the Grand MA2 is the next set and prev buttons these are particularly useful in focus when you're working through a sequence of

the next and prev buttons are self-explanatory press them to go either one fixture or channel forwards or backwards in your given cue stack

your currently selected and active fixture will always be bright yellow your selected but inactive fixtures will be in a dimmer yellow

groups will remember the order in which they were selected

Layout view

what is a layout view

I would say that layout view is the MA equivalent of a magic sheet on ETC and in many aspects, it does a very similar job however

a layout is a 2-dimensional view within this view you can add text, fixtures and channels

you can also add any image you like from the image pool

any object can be moved and scaled to suit your needs

where are they stored

Layouts are stored within the layout pool and you can have multiple layouts stored in the pool its like having pages of them

Creating layouts

the layout view can be found under the other section when creating views

the layout pool can be found under the aptly named pools tab

Sequences

Basic Sequence Info

A cue is a single look onstage a cue can contain as much information about lights as the programmer chooses it can also contain timing and effects which are mentioned further down on the page

a sequence is a list of cues put together one after the other among other things it will contain timing and trigger information this controls how the cues run

Executors

Executors are your playbacks on the console

when you store cues on an executor the cues are attached in a sequence. you can use this executor to output the sequence from the console

storing multiple cues on the same executor

to store multiple cues on the same executor

1. create your second look onstage 2. press the store button 3. press a button on the same executor that had the first cue on it 4. press create second cue

N.B pressing store and then the executor button will automatically store the next number in the sequence.

allocating a custom cue number

1. create your look onstage 2. press store cue number 3. press executor button

Effects Part 1

list the effect attributes and what they do

Forms

Speed

Low and High

Phase

Width

PWM

Attack and Decay

Absolute and Relative Effects

An a in the top right of the effect in the effects pool means it is an Absolute effect an R in the top right of the effect in the effects pool means it is a Relative effect

Groups, Blocks and Wings

Shuffle Selection order

Labelling Effects

Copy an Effect

Storing an Effect into a Cue

the effect control bar

creating a sequence with effects

Effects Part 2

selective and template effects when you select fixtures prior to creating the effect and these fixtures are stored in the effect it makes it a selective effect if you don't select any fixtures when you create an effect then you create a template effect and it can be applied to any fixture providing they share the same attributes