How can a show be structured efficiently in DMXControl 3? This is a question that should ideally be addressed at the start, especially for larger projects, so that you don’t get sidetracked while programming, particularly when it comes to adjusting individual lighting moods. A systematic approach from the beginning is helpful to quickly track your work even after some time.
This article covers a few points of DMXControl 3 and tries to highlight the differences between various working methods. Additionally, comparisons to DMXControl 2 are made, which might be of interest, especially for those transitioning to DMXControl 3.
In principle, it is possible to use the respective concepts simultaneously — there are no software limitations. In such cases, however, it is highly recommended to follow a comprehensible methodology or make use of the various options for labeling and commenting, for example, in the Cuelists themselves.
Conceptual Questions
Scene vs. Preset
Cuelists do not necessarily have to consist solely of many individual Scenes (Cues). Sometimes, you should consider whether using Presets could be advantageous and whether they might simplify programming a show.
Use case: I want to use a specific color of an LED light, such as a bright orange or magenta, at several points in my show. The color is fully mixed, meaning that in the case of orange, the RGB values are 255; 102; 25.
In principle, you can store the desired color or any other property manually in each Scene. However, in this case, Presets are the better choice, as a specific color, position, or movement might be used multiple times in the project. When using Presets, it's important to consider how the preset is applied. 
Further explanations regarding the use cases of a single preset can be found under Presets.
|
Despite the advantages of presets, this function should initially be disregarded when first starting with DMXControl 3. It is recommended to work with Cuelists, which will contain one or more scenes to familiarize yourself with the basic operation of DMXControl 3. |
Many Scenes vs. Many Cuelists
When is it advantageous to work with few Cuelists that contain many scenes? And when might the opposite scenario, where there are many cuelists with very few scenes, be the better option? This question can generally be answered as follows:
- Few Cuelists, but many scenes per Cuelist: Pre-programmed shows for musicals, plays, or true music-synchronized light shows in the form of a Setlist or Showlist
- Many Cuelists with only a few scenes: Live shows in clubs, discos, and parties, as well as concerts by, for example, cover bands, implemented as a Modular System
These general statements are based on the fundamental structure of the show and how it will be executed. The number and type of devices (simple LED lights, moving heads, etc.) used are secondary at this point.
Setlist / Showlist
If the setlist, play, or music for the light show is known in advance with sufficient lead time, the required lighting moods can be programmed quite specifically — you don’t need to think too much outside the box. You can focus on programming exactly what should happen on stage. As a result, the complexity of the project remains more manageable, which is particularly useful when adjusting a specific scene to fit the circumstances on-site. Simply load the Scene into the Programmer, adjust the values, and update the scene — done. There’s no need to search through the Cuelists to find the right one, open it, select the scene, and load it into the Programmer. If the Scenes contain one or more Presets, the required correction can be made even faster. Additionally, you don’t set the duration of lighting moods in multiple Cuelists, but instead have one cuelist that contains all the times. There’s no need to worry about ending individual cuelists, which wouldn’t be necessary with a single cuelist containing all the lighting moods as scenes.
Modular System
Use Cases
The concept of working with many Cuelists is also highly relevant, as shown by the examples above: here, flexible lighting moods and a modular system are often required, allowing the show to be created live or created because a setlist, etc., isn’t available in advance. Therefore, this necessary flexibility must come from the project itself.
Implementation
In contrast to the setlist concept, where a new lighting mood is activated with just one click, the modular system executes multiple cuelists simultaneously. This means that you must start several cuelists or select a new one to achieve a different lighting mood.
When creating cuelists in the modular system, you divide them based on the significant functions of the devices you’re using. A common division might be:
- Brightness
- Color
- Movement or Position
- Gobo
Important Background
It is important to keep in mind that when addressing the dimmer of a simple LED light, for example, only one thing can be implemented: either setting the brightness to 50% or 72% — both at the same time is technically impossible. The same applies to moving heads for position and movement: the device can either remain at a specific position or perform a movement.
For example, if the light jockey is given five different movements for the same moving head group, with each movement saved in its own cuelist, all these Cuelists are then assigned to a Cuelist Group, and only one cuelist within the group can be executed at a time. This allows the light jockey to choose a movement by starting one of the cuelists. With the Cuelist Group and the chosen option, all other cuelists in that group are automatically stopped. You can even use a carefully chosen release time to transition between cuelists, avoiding jumps in movements. However, this requires a certain level of creativity from the light jockey to always put together the best and most fitting components.
Thus, working with many cuelists is better suited for light jockeys and live light control, while storing everything in a single long cuelist with one scene per lighting mood is more advantageous for theater and/or musical productions.
Comparisons to DMXControl 2
Scenes vs. Presets
In DMXControl 2, a scene is actually a fixed state. Here, you save a fixed distribution of values for the device channels, and in most cases, a fixed (partial) lighting mood.
In DMXControl 3, a scene is also a storage of values, but of device property values. This means that an effect (e.g., a sawtooth on the color property) can also be stored in a scene. So, when using effects, there’s no need to save values in multiple scenes individually, which was particularly the case in situations where "brightness increases steadily across a series of devices." While you can still manually program such an effect in DMXControl 3, it wouldn’t be the best approach.
Instead, in a scene, you can use an effect like a sawtooth to store an entire running light. Thus, a scene in DMXControl 3 is more akin to a compositional scene than a simple scene. However, scenes in DMXControl 3 are assigned directly to cuelists, unlike simple scenes in DMXControl 2. There is no central scene library like the one in DMXControl 2, so multiple cuelists cannot reference the same scene.
Cuelists
The comparison between the two concepts can be described in fewer words: essentially, there are no differences regarding the project structure in DMXControl 2. In DMXControl 2, different tools were used:
- Use case 1: Textbook, Audio/Timecode player, or cuelist
- Use case 2: Effect sequencer
In DMXControl 3, everything effectively happens within the cuelist domain, as cuelists are significantly more powerful than simple scenes in DMXControl 2.