7. Programming in detail

Undo

One of the most useful tools available, Vista will allow you to undo nearly all actions. Press Control+Z or click Edit --> Undo. 

Fade times

In the Creating Cues section, we looked at how to change a cue's fade time. This is the time taken for all the changes happening in that cue to execute. There are two sorts of fade times - "straight" times and "split" times. A straight time is when every event of the cue happens over the same time period, for example, 2 seconds. All the lights increasing in intensity take two seconds, the lights decreasing in intensity take two seconds, the LED strips changing colour take two seconds. A split time is when the events within a cue have different times. The most common version of this is to have a different up time to down time. This means that the lights that are increasing in intensity take, for example, 3 seconds, and the lights decreasing in intensity take, for example, 5 seconds. This can be used to make transitions smoother when performers are moving from one area of the stage to another, or switching lighting instruments between states.

To enter a split time, the process is the same as a straight time. Double-click in the time section of the cue's tile, and type the new time. For an up time of 3 seconds and a down time of 5 seconds, type 3/5. Note that only the longer time will display - this is because Vista works on a timeline process. However, you will see the change reflected in the up and down bars below the tile display. You can also set the times by dragging these bars to the desired length. 

Additionally, it is possible to change the timing for each specific light or attribute (eg colour or movement) within a cue. This is done using the Timeline view, and is best explained in person - see Karen.

Halt/Follow

In the tile for each cue, you will see a red bar and block reading "Halt." This is the default action for a cue - the changes will execute over the specified fade time, and then nothing will change until you press the "go" button again. The alternatives to Halt are Follow, Start or Timecode.

Follow is used to create a series of cues that follow on automatically, to a set timing. This might be flashing lights, a series of slow transitions, or anything else as desired. To create a follow cue, click in an area of the tile reading Halt, and change the cue to Follow. The tile will change to reflect this.

You can then set a follow time, being how long the cue will wait after the previous cue has finished before following on. In the example seen above, cue 1 will execute over 5 seconds, then there will be a wait of 0 seconds (no wait), then cue 2 will execute over 3 seconds. You can change the follow time to any length. Keep in mind that the follow time and the fade time are different. 

Start is similar to follow. A start cue will begin at the same time as the previous cue, rather than waiting for its fade to be complete. To create a start cue, click on the red H in the cue tile and select Start. You can then change the start time. Remember, this is different from a follow time in that it begins at the same time as the previous cue. 

Timecode is of little use to us and does not need to be considered at this time.

It may seem very tempting to automate as many lighting cues as possible. Although this function definitely has its place, keep in mind that live performances are not exactly the same every day. It is hard to tell exactly how long a piece of dialogue or action will take.

Copy and Paste Values

You can copy and paste values (intensity, colour, position etc) from one light to another. Select the light to be copied, press Control+C or click Edit --> Copy, select the target, and press Control+V or Edit --> Paste. All values will be copied over for the attributes that light has. For example, if you're copying from a mover to an LED strip, there is intensity, position, colour, and zoom information. The LED strips can only accept intensity and colour information. 

To copy and paste selected values only, copy in the same way but to paste, press Control+Shift+V or click Edit --> Paste Special. You can then select which values you want to copy over. This can be handy if you want to copy the colour without changing the position of a mover, for example. 

Copy and Paste Cues

You can also copy and paste cues. Select the tile for the cue you want to copy, press Control+C, then click after the last cue tile and press Control+V. You can also insert a copied cue between existing cues. Select the cue you want to paste it after, then paste. Instead of the keyboard shortcuts, you can also right-click to copy and paste.

Inserting Cues

To insert a cue between two existing cues, select the cue you want to insert if after, and press the green + (plus) button. You can also press and hold the plus button to specify if you want to insert and new cue before or after the selected cue. Build the look of the inserted cue in the same way you built the new cue, remembering to consider the effects of tracking. 

Deleting Cues

Select the cue to be deleted and click the red - (minus) button, located next to the plus button. You can also right-click the cue and select "Delete cue." You will be asked if you want to "preserve look" or do a "normal delete." Normal delete will delete all the information contained in the cue, which may affect the cues following it (see Tracking Explained for more information). Preserve look will delete the selected cue without affecting the other cues around it. Which mode to use depends on the situation. If in doubt, go with preserve look. 

Mark Cues

Plot the movers into a cue. When you play the cue, you will notice that they will turn on and move from their starting position to the programmed position. This is because the position information fades in along with the rest of the cue information. To avoid a "live move," you need to create a mark cue, also called a move in black cue. A mark cue tells the movers to "mark" or get ready, in a cue when they are not being used.

To create a mark cue, select you cue to be marked. Press Control+M or in the toolbar go into Tools --> Mark Cue (Move in Black). 

A dialogue box will open. The default information is generally appropriate. Click OK. (You can also use this dialogue box to delete an unwanted mark cue.)

In the tile of the marked cue as well as the move in black cue, an icon will show that it contains this extra information. This is important in case you delete the move in black cue. In this case, you would need to re-do the mark cue.

When using mark cues, keep in mind that there must be a cue between each use of the movers, or they have no "black" to move in. 

Up next... Tracking Explained