MagicQ User Manual
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7.19
Cloning (Adding extra heads / dimmers to a programmed show)
Cloning enables a show programmed with a certain number of heads to be expanded to use more of the same head type without
having to reprogram all of the show.
For example, if you have a show programmed with 4 MAC500s and you want to add 4 more MAC500s, then you can clone the
4 programmed MAC500s. All the Cues, Cue Stacks, Groups and Palettes that have the original 4 MAC500s will now have the
additional 4 MAC500s as well.
By cloning heads in this way you have a quick and easy approach to expanding your show. You can then programme some new
Cues and Cue Stacks that use the new and old heads individually.
To Clone heads
Enter the Patch Window and choose the
view heads
view. Select the heads you wish to clone using SHIFT and the cursor keys.
Note a new cloned head is created for each of the selected heads. e.g. selecting 4 heads when cloning will patch 4 more fixtures
each cloned to one of the 4 selected heads.
Then press the CLONE HEAD soft button.
Cloned heads are patched on the next free universe/channel in MagicQ, these can then be re addressed as needed.
There are several options when cloning heads. It is possible to choose whether both Palettes and Cues are cloned or just Palettes.
It is also possible to specify that FX are split when the heads are cloned, so that the new heads are part of a different FX from
the original FX. This function should be used with care when cloning multiple heads in order to avoid fragmenting the F X too
much.
7.19.1
Copy Head Programming
If you patch new heads into a show, without cloning it is still possible to then copy programming from other heads to the new
heads. To copy programmed data from one head to another press the SHIFT + COPY HEAD PRG soft button in the HEAD
VIEW, then select the source head followed by the destination head. All the Cues, Cue Stacks, Groups and Palettes that contain
the source head will be updated to include the destination head.
7.19.2
Patch Channel Copy
Another way to expand existing shows is to patch the new heads and dimmers but then in the Patch window to set a real time
channel copy from another already programmed channel. The value of the channel will always be that of the already programmed
channel. Any programming of the newly patched channel will be ignored. To set up real time copies, edit the Merge and From
Chan columns in the View Chans view of the Patch Window. Press ENTER in the Merge column to change it to "Copy" and then
set the From Chan column.
7.20
Morphing Heads (Changing Head type)
It is possible to morph one head type into another head type. The system will copy the programming from the old head type to
the new head type. The system takes into account the different pan and tilt ranges of the heads when copying pan and tilt data.
As no two heads are exactly the same, the programming will not create exactly the same looks as with the original heads. A
closer representation will be obtained by morphing a spot into a spot compared to a spot into a wash light.
If the new head types have more channels than the original head types then MagicQ morphs the heads but leaves them unpatched
– the user must then repatch the heads at a suitable location.
In the Patch Window, choose the new head type, then move the cursor to the head to change or select a block of heads using
SHIFT and the cursor keys. Press the MORPH HEAD soft button and confirm that the action is what is required.
