Step By Step Using the ETC Ion/Element
Powering on the console
To turn the light board on, press the power button located on the top left corner of the main console. On the Element in MB 1, the button is at the top right.
The console should launch all the way to the actual show file, but if it doesn't and only launches to the shell, press the "Primary" button to launch the show file.
In Matchbox 2 and 4, you need to turn off the preset panel on the wall to ensure that the console has control of the room. When pressing the off, or bottom button on the preset panel, you will clear out whatever preset is up, and the top button will flash green indicating that the console has control.
Loading Rep Show File
When starting a new show, it's best to reload the rep show file.
To load the rep file, click the triangle at the bottom right of the screen to open the Browser.
Select File, then Open, then Show File Archive. Open the rep plot file by opening the folder labeled for the theater you're working in and double click the file located at the top.
People have a tendency to sometimes save over the rep show file. If there seem to be problems with the file you've loaded, or cues saved in the file, you may need to load the rep show file from the USB drive that's attached to the desk behind the console.
Save a new show file so that you don't save over the rep by following these steps
File, Save As, then Show File Archive.
Scroll down to <new folder> and double click that and then create a new folder name.
Double click the new folder created to save your show file in that folder.
Bringing Up Channels
There are several ways to bring up channels on the console. The first and most straight forward would be to type in the channel number desired then "at", then the level, and then "enter".
The information being typed will appear in the command line at the bottom of the screen where it says LIVE.
When bringing up an LED fixture or Mover, you will need to use the ML Controls (see below)
The basic areas of the rep plot are also programmed on the sub masters and are labeled. This will bring up groups of lights including the LED fixtures and house lights.
Channels may also be brought up using the magic sheet (see below)
To take all of the channels to zero, press the CLEAR button, then SNEAK button followed by the ENTER button. That will take all channels that have values that are not being controlled by a submaster out.
LED Fixtures and Movers
The LED pars and cyc lights (MB 2 and 4 only) are full color mixing and have separate intensity controls.
To bring up an LED fixture, you need to set the channel at a level using the command line, and then in the ML controls, set the color.
To open the ML controls, you can click the small icon at the top right of the screen that looks like 3 beams of light, to the left of the camera icon.
With the desired channel selected in the command line, click in the color picker, or use the color wheels to select the desired color. Once a color is selected and the intensity has been set, then the fixture will come on.
To close the ML controls, simply click the icon at the top right of the screen.
The moving lights are LED fixtures and do not have to be "lamped on" like a moving light with an HID lamp. You can turn on a mover by bringing up the channel as you would do a conventional.
To adjust focus, color, etc, you will use the ML controls. Select the ML controls at the top right of the screen as described above and adjust the settings on the fixture as desired.
You can also adjust the moving light using the encoders (wheels) at the top of the console (not on the Element). The screen will indicate what each wheel is controlling, and the buttons to the right of the wheels will change the various parameters that you're trying to control. Focus and Form are probably the most useful of these buttons.
Select the parameter that you want the encoders to control but pressing the appropriate button at the top right of the console.
The will display parameters below the wheels to be controlled.
Spin the wheels as desired to change the parameter -Note, color, image and shutter are easier to control thru the ML controls rather than the encoder wheels.
Magic Sheets
Each theater has a digital magic sheet that's been built and saved as part of the rep show file. The magic sheets include a complete representation of the rep plot itself, a moving light magic sheet (not MB 1), and a groups view.
To access the magic sheet, click the + tab along the bottom of the screen. Then click the magic sheet tab out of the selection of tab options.
This will open a view showing the magic sheet options. You will need to click the first one that will be the rep magic sheet. It will then open up a view of all of the magic sheet options on that page. You can zoom in and move the page around using the wheel on the mouse. Once you've gotten close enough to see the options, there are buttons on each page that will jump to views of the various magic sheet options. Click those buttons to automaticall jump around
On the magic sheets, you can control individual fixtures by selecting them on the plot view, and then changing levels, or you can select groups of lights on the groups view. There are also basic colors set up for the LED fixtures.
The moving light page has some preset color options, the gobo selector and some preset focus options.
Recording Cues
To record cues, make sure the command line at the bottom of the screen is clear and only says LIVE. To clear the command line, hit the CLEAR button until it's clear.
Press the RECORD button, then type the cue desired cue number and then press the ENTER button.
To record cue times different than the default, press the RECORD button, then type the desired cue number, then press the TIME button and then type the desired cue time followed by the ENTER button.
You can do split times by using the forward slash ( / ) key. For example 5 / 10 is 5 up and 10 down.
To record a cue label, press the RECORD button and then the desired cue number, then press the LABEL button and then type the desired label followed by the ENTER button.
Loading / Running cues
To load a cue, you can do so by pressing the GO TO CUE button, type the desired cue number and hitting ENTER.
If the cue list is not already available on one of the screens, press the + tab at the bottom of the screen and select the PSD. This will put the cue list on that screen as a new tab.
Screens
Along the bottom of the screen, there will be a tab or possibly multiple tabs. You can have a variety of different views on those tabs varying from the patch, the active channels, moving light controls, etc.
Adding tabs to the screen can be done by clicking the + tab at the bottom of the screen and then selecting from the list available.
Most common screens used are going to be the PSD (cue list), the Channels Table, Magic Sheet, and patch
The Channels table can be changed from active channels, to active channels or patched channels by pressing the FLEXI button.
To close tabs, right click on the desired tab and selecting close tab.
Troubleshooting
LED / Mover Power
The LED fixtures and movers are powered thru relays distributed throughout the room. These relays have been "parked" on in the console and should automatically come on when the console is turned on.
If the LED fixtures and / or movers are not coming on, it's likely that the park has been cleared and the relays will need to be restored. To do that follow these steps.
Double tap the PARK button to open the park.
Verify that whether there are addresses in the park and if no, you'll need to run Macro 1. Press the MACRO button, then 1, then enter. That should restore the addresses that should be included in the park and the smart fixtures should come one.
Grandmaster
If you are having issues with levels not coming up or not to the correct intensity, check the Grandmaster (GM) fader to ensure it's all the way up.
Cue Fader
If you are having cue playback issues, check that the cue faders that are above the Stop/Back and Go buttons are all the way up. If they have been moved or are partially down, then your cues may not play correctly.
Submasters
It is possible to use the submasters to record cues, but once a cue is in the fader, you won't be able to change the level of a channel below the level that's in the active cue. It's best not to use the subs to program, or at least keep the cue faders clear so that you're able to make live cues.