Elation show designer 3, User Manual, Page: 31 / 44

27
SHOWS
A show is a sequence or list of up to 255 scenes that can be played back at preprogrammed times or played
back manually using the “go”, “stop” and “back” switches. This is sometimes referred to as a stack by
some controllers. Show Designer 3 lets you record up to 24 pages of 48 shows for a total of 1152 shows.
Shows are good for running the controller without an operator or for productions that never require
changes on the fly. To create simple effects and repetitive movements use chases rather than shows. You
can run a single show from one of the 48 memory switches and up to 16 more shows using the playback
faders.
RECORDING SHOWS
Before recording a Show you must first record the scenes that will be included in the show. Consult the
previous sections on how to do this.
To start recording a show press “record”, the “record” LED will flash. Press “show”, the “show” LED will
also flash. The page number will display the current Show page and any locations that already contain
Shows will be lit.
The display will show the current step that is ready to be recorded along with the scene page and scene
number in that step. The word “Empty” will appear in place of the scene page and number if there is
nothing recorded at this step. The hold time for the step is displayed in minutes and seconds. The minutes
and seconds are separated by colons “:” with seconds having a decimal point allowing tenths of a second
resolution.
To record a show step, press the “scene” switch, the “scene” LED will be lit. Next, choose a scene for this
step by selecting the page and pressing the desired scene number. Next, select the hold time for this step if
you plan to have the show run on the clock. If you plan to step the show manually, you do not need to
enter a hold time. The time that you select is the time that this scene will be held until the next step is
called. You can select a new time by moving the cursor to the minute or second number then press the +
or - switch or use data wheel #3 to change the time.
Once a scene has been selected and the hold time set, press “enter”. The step number will automatically
advance to the next step. You can enter up to 255 steps in the show. If you press “enter” without selecting
a scene, the step number will advance leaving the step empty.
As you are recording a show you can view any step by moving the cursor under the step number and using
the + or - switch or by turning data wheel #1. You can edit the scene number or hold time for any
previously recorded step this way. Pressing “enter” when on the last recorded step adds an additional step
to the end of the show. This lets you quickly enter a list of scenes. Pressing “enter” while the step number
is not at the end simply advances to the next step without adding a step. You can also use the “erase”
switch to remove a step and the “add” switch to insert and empty step at the current step number.
There are three other parameters that you can adjust while recording the show that will affect how it will
play: loop, manual, and link. “Loop” can be set to on or off and as the name implies, will determine
whether the show will loop continuously or play through one time and then stop. “Manual” can be set to
on or off and will allow the show to be played using the programmed hold times or advanced using the go