14
Express v3.1 Quick Guide
Effects (Chases)
An
effect
is a special cue or submaster that can run repetitively in a variety of patterns.
Effects are also called
chases
. Effects consist of a series of steps that contain channels set
at levels. You can assign timing conditions to each step and separately to the overall effect.
You can record an effect in the Stage or Blind display, but you can only edit effects in Blind.
Record an effect in Blind (example):
Step 1:
Press
[Blind]
to enter the Blind display.
Step 2:
Press {Cue}
[#] [Type] [3] [Enter]
to specify the cue number and set it to the
effect type. This also selects Step 1 for editing.
Step 3:
Press
[Channel] [1] [Thru] [5] [S8 - Add Channels] [At] [5][0]
to set channels
1-5 to a maximum level of 50%. You can also select channels individually to set
levels after you add them.
Step 4:
Press
[S1 - Step] [2]
to create the next step and select it for editing.
Step 5:
Press
[Channel] [6] [Thru] [1][0] [S8 - Add Channels] [At] [7][5]
to add
channels 6-10 to step 2 and set them to a maximum level of 75%.
Step 6:
Press
[Record] [Enter]
to record the effect cue.
Effect Fade Times
When an effect is created, it defaults to zero timing for overall fade and step fades. Each
step defaults to a .2 second step time, which means that step 2 plays .2 seconds after step
1, and so on. You can change the timing on the overall effect, which will determine how long
it takes for the whole effect to fade to maximum levels, stay active and fade out again. You
may also add in, dwell and out times to each step to change from a chase that snaps
between the minimum and maximum levels to one that fades. If the In/Dwell/Out time
combined is greater than the step time, your steps will crossfade from one to the next.
Change an effect cue’s overall timing:
Step 1:
Press
[Blind]
to enter the Blind display.
Step 2:
Press {Cue}
[#] [Time] [
x
] [Time] [
x
] [Time] [
x
] [Enter]
, where
the first time
number entered is for the upfade time, the second is for the dwell time and the
third is for the downfade time. Any of the three can be skipped by pressing
[Time]
without following it with a number. The dwell time is the amount of time the effect
