Elation show designer 3, User Manual, Page: 36 / 44

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PLAYBACK MASTERS
Scenes, presets, chases and shows can all be assigned to the playback faders. There are 32 pages of 8 faders
giving you a total of 256 playback fader memories to work with. In addition you can configure the flex
faders as additional playbacks giving you 256 more. Playbacks can be configured to operate in LTP or HTP
mode as explained later in this section. Each playback has a switch above it that is used for programming
and for performance functions. For performance, the switch can be set to flash, latch or “go mode”. The
functions of the faders and switches are selected using the setup menus as explained at the beginning of the
manual. Consult the menu section “Select playback modes” for instructions on how to configure the
playbacks. If you plan to use the flex faders as playbacks consult the menu section “Select flex fader mode”
for instructions on how to do that. The mode selections are by section so for example, all of the flex faders
(top row) can be set to LTP while all of the playback masters (bottom row) can be set to HTP. You can’t
set individual faders to their own individual playback modes. The same applies to the flash buttons. You
can freely change the flex fader mode at any time. If you change the flex fader mode from playbacks to
dimmers or moving light channels the playback memory will not be lost.
ASSIGNING A MEMORY TO A PLAYBACK
Assigning a memory to a playback is quick and easy. Press “record” and the record LED will flash. Select a
playback page number if necessary using the page up and down buttons next to the playbacks and then
select a playback by pressing its flash button. The playback’s LED will start to flash. Select the memory
type by pressing the “preset”, “chase”, “scene” or “show” button. Finally press the number for the
memory you want to assign to the playback. After selecting the memory the LEDs will stop flashing. At
any time during the record process you can select a different playback. If you need to change pages, toggle
off any selected playbacks before changing the page number. If you select a playback that is already
occupied you will be prompted to overwrite it, press “yes” to overwrite.
USING THE PLAYBACKS
The playbacks will generate different results depending on the type of memory assigned and the playback
mode. The following paragraphs will describe each case in detail. In general though, the faders must be
reset to 0 before they will start. The playback will begin when the fader is moved just slightly above the 0
position and then released once it is brought back to 0. Once started, the memory will be attached to that
fader until released, even if the page is changed.
If the preview LED is lit, pressing a flash button will show the contents of the playback in the display
without playing the memory.
LTP X/Y Mode
LTP stands for “latest or last takes precedence or priority”. This means that when calling a memory any
channel changes will override previous settings. This is standard operation for most moving light
controllers. In the case of the SD3, the playback fader is used to manually control all fades between the
current channel settings and the playback’s memory settings. There are no timed crossfades when using
LTP mode. Any channel that is included in the memory will have its starting value captured at the start of
the playback allowing the fader to pull back any channels to their starting positions. Any chases will begin
when the playback starts and then stop when the playback fader is pulled back to 0. Pressing a flash button
is the same as moving a fader to its highest level. Channels that are set to “snap before fade” will change at
the start of the playback, those set to “snap after fade” will change when the fader is at the top position.