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

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