# What is your favorite button on any lighting console?



## MSLD (Aug 14, 2009)

Just out of curiosity, what is your most favorite button on the lighting consoles? Mine is the back button the the ETC Express consloes.


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## soundlight (Aug 14, 2009)

GO button on the Colortran Encore. Without a doubt. KA-CHUNK!


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## derekleffew (Aug 14, 2009)

Not necessarily my favorite, but I've found that the [DBO] key excites the most response/emotion with the least amount of effort.


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## Grog12 (Aug 14, 2009)

Push to Erect on full size grand-MA's........also the Undo button.


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## MrsFooter (Aug 14, 2009)

On any console, the Black Out button. I've never had any reason to use it, but I looooove knowing that it's there. You want to mess with me? I can put you ALL in the dark! And you know my hand's hovering over it during any and all mega-mixes...


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## Raktor (Aug 14, 2009)

REM DIM.


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## gafftapegreenia (Aug 14, 2009)

soundlight said:


> GO button on the Colortran Encore. Without a doubt. KA-CHUNK!



This. QFT.


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## zac850 (Aug 15, 2009)

Grog12 said:


> Push to Erect on full size grand-MA's........also the Undo button.



Beat me to it.

The Oops button on the MA's is my favorite Undo button.


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## BillESC (Aug 15, 2009)

Room Service button.


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## LDRon (Aug 15, 2009)

The track button on a desk that doesn't have a full tracking mode.
If it can do a full tracking mode then update.


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## ReiRei (Aug 15, 2009)

I would have to agree with the person who said the black out button. I like the black out button, it is my friend. However, every once in a while I look at it and I think, has anyone disabled this button? Maybe I should check... in the middle of a gig. Though I have been tempted I never have. 

I really do enjoy the hold and back button on the ETC console at my old high school. It's saved the lives of a few of my MEs and even myself once or twice.

You know what... I like all the button equally..... except for the track button on the etc. I hate that button with a passion and prefer never to use it. Rawr track button... rawr.


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## Jeroen (Aug 15, 2009)

On any? probably the GO button or perhaps the encoder wheel but does that count for a button...?

On the ETC Smartfade range the CLEAR button, it gives a quick and easy way of clearing outputs on stage to program the next look.


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## pacman (Aug 15, 2009)

HOME ATTRIB button on the ETC Congo. Puts those pesky wayward movers in their place when they've wandered off & I can't find them.


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## MillburyAuditorium (Aug 15, 2009)

Right on with the Black Out button  Although I have used it before, for dance recitals, black outs at the end of dances, fade in when next one starts. Besides that, nothing really : P


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## Les (Aug 15, 2009)

The ETC Express/ion [Hold] button has served me well, both for accidental 'GO' presses and for when you need to pause a running cue for any reason. I was running a dance show which was very complicated and after next to no rehearsal time, having one finger near the 'Hold' button while running a cue was very useful ("Does the blackout go on this beat, or the beat after that?").


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## len (Aug 15, 2009)

BillESC said:


> Room Service button.



+1. Too bad my programming skills are such that it doesn't actually work.


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## DaveySimps (Aug 15, 2009)

The blind button. For so many reasons. Just don't forget you are in blind when you want to be in live. Not that any of us has done that before. 

~Dave


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## cprted (Aug 15, 2009)

DaveySimps said:


> The blind button. For so many reasons. Just don't forget you are in blind when you want to be in live. Not that any of us has done that before.
> 
> ~Dave


Never once happened ...


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## MNicolai (Aug 15, 2009)

On the ETC Congo Jr., my favorite though minimally used button is the "?" button.


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## church (Aug 15, 2009)

the "ON" button/switch

LOL


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## hhslights (Aug 15, 2009)

The blackout button. What else can completely change everything in one fatal push?


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## beltsvillecrucib (Aug 15, 2009)

Pig or SET


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## zac850 (Aug 16, 2009)

beltsvillecrucib said:


> Pig or SET




Calling button pushes over headset for a HogII starts to confuse the sound department very quickly. It started with all the Pig Releasing and got even worse when we needed to use some comment macros.


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## Dionysus (Aug 16, 2009)

I indeed do like the "*" button on the Lightboard M, confuses the hell out of noobs.


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## MSLD (Aug 16, 2009)

Now that i think about it, i think i like the "Exit, Exit, Clear,Clear" function on the avo's


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## lighttechie5948 (Aug 16, 2009)

DaveySimps said:


> The blind button. For so many reasons. Just don't forget you are in blind when you want to be in live. Not that any of us has done that before.
> 
> ~Dave



Ugh.. I hate when I'm adding a cue in blind, like if I'm one cue 100 and the next cue is 101 and I need to add 101.5, so I do it in blind, then hit GO and it goes to 101, since I never hit Live....that always happens on opening nights.....and 9 out of 10 times, Q101 is a blackout!!!


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## shiben (Aug 16, 2009)

BillESC said:


> Room Service button.



Who would this call? At our college, we dont have catering or anything, but I figure we could use it to annoy the n00bs, call them for food. I might have to do this, have a submaster that triggers a sign somewhere... *evil cackle*


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## MSLD (Aug 16, 2009)

shiben said:


> Who would this call? At our college, we dont have catering or anything, but I figure we could use it to annoy the n00bs, call them for food. I might have to do this, have a submaster that triggers a sign somewhere... *evil cackle*



better yet, make the sign an LED sign to make it noticible and flashy!


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## shiben (Aug 16, 2009)

Better yet, im sure there is some way with an LED sign to make it say what you want, like "Coke", "Pizza", "Arbys", and so on. Im gonna check with my TD, we might be getting some new LED units and the LD for the first show of the year doesnt use anything that has more than one control channel, so I might be able to make that...


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## MSLD (Aug 16, 2009)

Get a 50' long 40' high LED wall and flash up there what you want.


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## shiben (Aug 16, 2009)

Hehe, I like that. Too bad a product like that would literally fill our entire theater, with some space to walk around the outside (60'x60'x25' black box, ftw) I guess ill have to settle for a little LED sign...


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## TupeloTechie (Aug 16, 2009)

yet another reason I want to buy this 
American DJ Homepage


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## Tex (Aug 16, 2009)

soundlight said:


> GO button on the Colortran Encore. Without a doubt. KA-CHUNK!


+1! I was going to post the same thing.
That was my only reservation about upgrading. When you hit the GO button on an Encore, you have to mean it! 
Fortunately, the GO button on the Innovator is alright. The software on the other hand...


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## MSLD (Aug 16, 2009)

shiben said:


> Hehe, I like that. Too bad a product like that would literally fill our entire theater, with some space to walk around the outside (60'x60'x25' black box, ftw) I guess ill have to settle for a little LED sign...



But look at the bright side, it would solve your cravings


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## gafftaper (Aug 16, 2009)

I installed one of these "Panic Buttons" on my console. It's great to see the reaction of people.



Hey Rschwimmer, Is there a way I can get one of these to work as my go button on my Strand Classic Palette?


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## LDash (Aug 16, 2009)

hmm probably the "wide" button on the zero 88 frog.


i was once programming the desk, and after my lunch break (i left a new be techie in there to finish off a chase i let him do) when i got back i couldn't for the life of me work out why i had lost half of my 46 channels! i was searching in the dimmer room and everything and i realised it wasn't on wide   haha. i was having one of those days which turn into a long night  haha


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## Les (Aug 16, 2009)

gafftaper said:


> I installed one of these "Panic Buttons" on my console. It's great to see the reaction of people.



Gaff, that's really funny. It actually reminds me of a button on my keyboard (I also play piano in my spare time). It is a Kurzweil, and it has this big bright digital display. Under it are about 6 buttons which correspond to tabs on the screen. One of them is "Panic". What I think it actually does is sets all MIDI values to zero in case you over tweak something and get stuck. I've never had to use it but I have pressed it a few times .


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## Pie4Weebl (Aug 16, 2009)

I know my least favorite button, the flip button on AVO boards, I still don't understand it! (Not that I ever use those hippy consoles)


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## MillburyAuditorium (Aug 17, 2009)

TupeloTechie said:


> yet another reason I want to buy this
> American DJ Homepage



I think the Messenger would be a great fixture to have to display messages onto the main curtain during intermission, before and after shows or whenever else the curtain is closed. And when it is open, the message will be displayed on one of the two sub curtains.
I have seen video reviews on the unit before and it is a really great light.


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## soundlight (Aug 17, 2009)

MillburyAuditorium said:


> I think the Messenger would be a great fixture to have to display messages onto the main curtain during intermission, before and after shows or whenever else the curtain is closed. And when it is open, the message will be displayed on one of the two sub curtains.
> I have seen video reviews on the unit before and it is a really great light.



Having seen fixtures like this (that use the same LEDs and lensing) in person, I can tell you that with the house lights up, it won't really be seen. It'll also look...tacky, to say the least. That's the other reason you don't see a lot of DJ level fixtures in theatre.


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## RichMoore (Aug 17, 2009)

Personally, I like the "OFF" function of the O-N/O-F-F- function switch, because when I hit it, I know that work is over and I am on my way home.


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## mstutzman (Aug 17, 2009)

During long drawn out tech processes, I like to label my subs with such things as, Talk, Tech, Musical Theater, and so on so that my production manager and I feel we have some control over the process. 

(i.e: Less Talk, More Tech... and a little less Musical Theater!)


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## MillburyAuditorium (Aug 17, 2009)

soundlight, Could you give me a link to a professional grade message kind of light? I only thought it would be good because I didn't know there were professional grade ones.
Would be an interesting thing to have ^_^


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## mstutzman (Aug 17, 2009)

I have this nervous habit of hitting "release" between writing cues, Im sure it drives my designer crazy. That and I hit "channel" nervously, since one of the quirks of the Express console is that it will default to neither "cue" nor "channel" so I will start building and realize Ive done nothing. 

The other thing I hate is that in blind, I will build then think I am hitting the softkey S1 for "record" and am on the wrong softkey page.


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## Les (Aug 17, 2009)

When I am on an ETC desk and find myself bored, I like to try to get as many flashing lights on the desk going as possible. (With the houselights up of course) I might hit Blackout, enable Quickstep, bring up a few subs, then go to the next submaster page. It's like Christmas, and it makes the console look very alarming/unhappy.


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## MillburyAuditorium (Aug 17, 2009)

Les said:


> When I am on an ETC desk and find myself bored, I like to try to get as many flashing lights on the desk going as possible. (With the houselights up of course) I might hit Blackout, enable Quickstep, bring up a few subs, then go to the next submaster page. It's like Christmas, and it makes the console look very alarming/unhappy.



Hahaha, I love doing this as well. During one day when I was working on and purring on a dance recital *14 hours* I kept make the go buttons flash and the was playing with the A B sliders because the LEDs will follow its path : P


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## gafftaper (Aug 17, 2009)

MillburyAuditorium said:


> soundlight, Could you give me a link to a professional grade message kind of light? I only thought it would be good because I didn't know there were professional grade ones.
> Would be an interesting thing to have ^_^



There probably aren't any professional grade products like this. At least I haven't seen them. Someone doing this on the professional level would either use a gobo, a projector, or something like an HES DL3... but they cost more than my house. 

As Soundlight mentioned the problem is the output is VERY low on American DJ products. They are designed to work just fine in small dark clubs with all the other lights off. However the problem is what happens when you bring that up to a theater size scale (which typically means a throw distance of over 40 feet from the house lighting position to the grand drape). Plus you have far more ambient light for those low power LEDs to deal with. The web site says that the AMDJ LED Messenger consumes 55W of power to power 192 LEDs... that's less than 1/3W of power per LED. My Mag LED flashlight burns 3W. Take any typical LED flashlight and stand in the house underneath where you would be hanging the AMDJ fixture with the house lights on and see if you can see your flashlight on the grand. Now try it with the lights off. Now try it with the stage lights on. Distance and ambient light are killers to LED's. Even the top of the line professional theatrical LED's (like ETC's Selador products) need a lot of fixtures to be able compete with the other conventional stage lighting fixtures. 

Generally any reference to an American DJ product around here is a joke. DJ gear is just fine in a dark club with short throw distances. However, when you scale it up to theater dimensions you might not even be able to see it on stage. 

One other note. Any sort of really pro LED product is going to brag to you you about what type of LEDs it uses (Luxeon K2 or K3? Rebels?), and it's going to give you a wattage rating on that LED. The AMDJ product tells you that they use 5mm LEDs. So what? The size is meaningless information without knowing the manufacturer, model, and wattage. There is a HUGE difference in product quality in LEDs. There are tiny LEDs that are very bright and huge LEDs that are very dim. Without knowing what actual LED they are using you have no idea how bright a fixture is.


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## shiben (Aug 17, 2009)

gafftaper said:


> Generally any reference to an American DJ product around here is a joke. DJ gear is just fine in a dark club with short throw distances. However, when you scale it up to theater dimensions you might not even be able to see it on stage.



Well, I think we were a bit serious about sticking one in catering and fire it off the console...


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## gafftaper (Aug 17, 2009)

shiben said:


> Well, I think we were a bit serious about sticking one in catering and fire it off the console...



Perhaps install one in the smoking area to notify the crew when to come back in.


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## JChenault (Aug 17, 2009)

I like the Solo button on my moving light console. Brings all of the other movers out, and brings the one I am working on to full.


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## slimrocktwo (Aug 17, 2009)

On our desk (Minstrel Plus), there is a key switch that locks out any changes that might accidentally applied. It's handy for when every thing is set for a big show, or to keep a newbie from messing things up.


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## Grog12 (Aug 17, 2009)

OOOhhh while not a lighting console, my favorite button on a sound console came from my undergrad's board.

Just a big blinking Kill button. >:>


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## ishboo (Aug 17, 2009)

I always like to program an effect of some sort into a sub as a "show off button" so when you are talking to someone about, well, anything you can hit that and then the theatre just goes crazy with moving lights, colors, lights flashing. It can be very soothing.


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## MillburyAuditorium (Aug 17, 2009)

gafftaper said:


> There probably aren't any professional grade products like this. At least I haven't seen them. Someone doing this on the professional level would either use a gobo, a projector, or something like an HES DL3... but they cost more than my house.
> 
> As Soundlight mentioned the problem is the output is VERY low on American DJ products. They are designed to work just fine in small dark clubs with all the other lights off. However the problem is what happens when you bring that up to a theater size scale (which typically means a throw distance of over 40 feet from the house lighting position to the grand drape). Plus you have far more ambient light for those low power LEDs to deal with. The web site says that the AMDJ LED Messenger consumes 55W of power to power 192 LEDs... that's less than 1/3W of power per LED. My Mag LED flashlight burns 3W. Take any typical LED flashlight and stand in the house underneath where you would be hanging the AMDJ fixture with the house lights on and see if you can see your flashlight on the grand. Now try it with the lights off. Now try it with the stage lights on. Distance and ambient light are killers to LED's. Even the top of the line professional theatrical LED's (like ETC's Selador products) need a lot of fixtures to be able compete with the other conventional stage lighting fixtures.
> 
> ...




If you see in this video, it is show being used during the day time with lights on and in good clarity. I don't know if there's some kind of misconception somewhere, or if I am not getting something. I am very aware that the foh spots probably will wash the hell out of the image. But I think I want to rent a few of these kind of lights and see just how washed out they get, some say they will work fine, some say they wont. When we got some just to test them out I will make a video to show if they actually do work okay, or dont. Actually, im going to run up to my local Guitar Center and see if they can let me borrow some of their display products, I know a guy there, so maybe I can borrow them for like three hours for free. Becuase I have seen this lights work great in day time, but other people say they dont, and I dont know what to beleive, so, I will beleive it when I see it right?


Some other videos of American DJ lights in day time.


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## soundlight (Aug 17, 2009)

Two words: throw distance.


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## derekleffew (Aug 17, 2009)

soundlight said:


> Two words: throw distance.


soundlight, I'm disappointed in you; and contend, to explain the phenomenon, one needs three words: Inverse Square Law.


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## octobersky (Aug 17, 2009)

"The Pig Key" on a Wholehog


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## shiben (Aug 18, 2009)

@MillburyAuditorium, those really dont look all that bright when it comes down to it. It says on the website that the output is similar to a 400W halogen lamp. In the house-type settings shown, the lighting is probably being provided with 60W soft white bulbs. In my house, I can take a 60W birdie and throw a color wash on the wall from the ceiling. The point is its not a lot of power needed to outclass your living room light, and so the LEDs in there have no trouble being seen (and in the environment for which this device was designed, it makes perfect sense that it be about that powerful). Now, in our auditorium space, I had to take the stage wash to zero when it splashed against the cyc, as we could wash out our 10K projector. At any range for the ADJ product, its going to get hosed, probably by your Aud. lighting, much less the stage light, due to the Inverse Square Law (which comes down to throw distance). Basically, products from ADJ are designed for DJs who go around and have small, ultra portable rigs that they can set up and add some pulsing color to their set. It doesnt have to be very bright, because there are no other lights involved (think a dark club). If you think of a professional situation, say, a rock show, where we have very similar effects (at lease moving beams of light, color changers, patterns, etc), you are going to see a rig of MAC2ks and VL3ks, etc, run by a board capable of managing thousands of parameters and costing a lot of money, not having the sound bump the lights around. Also, the power requirements for a DJ set are like 2-4 20A wall sockets. Concerts consume hundreds (and maybe thousands) of amps (our arena has 2 400A and 2 100A company switches in back, and its not even very big.) Does this make sense? I know for me the entire distinction was non-existent in HS, took a few college-level productions to fully appreciate it.


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## Dionysus (Aug 18, 2009)

When I worked at Blyth there is a rather OLD, pathetic ETC console there. I can't remember what it's called. Essentially a really small console with a few submasters, a cue interface, and a really bad chase system (or so I felt).
Anyways I set the chase up (with no actual lights/looks or anything) so that it's onboard display (a small strip of red led's) would scan from side to side. Essentially making it look like the "eye" of a cylon!
lol, whenever anyone else has used it it was un-done for some reason (as if having an empty chase running effected things)... I'd make it a cylon again. When I was having a bad day I'd play with it during level set or whatever when waiting for something to do behind the console, and make it stop, speed up, slow down...

Wow...
Yeah... I know...

In general I love the "blackout" button and the "stop" button. I've hardly ever used either of them, but I like to know they are right at my fingertips.


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## derekleffew (Aug 18, 2009)

Dionysus, MicroVision FX. You should have seen the original!



MARTIN MINI MAC, HORIZON, NSI MLC16


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## Luminosity (Aug 18, 2009)

Pie4Weebl said:


> I know my least favorite button, the flip button on AVO boards, I still don't understand it! (Not that I ever use those hippy consoles)



The flip button takes the fixture currently selected in the programmer and 'Flips' it to the other end of its tilt/pan 'spectrum'. Think phase ø button for moving light.


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## Luminosity (Aug 18, 2009)

My favorite button on the Whole Hog II would have to be the *Active* button. It makes programming a snap and days a little less hectic. This can also be equated to the *Focus Point *on the ETC Expression.


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## PeytonJr (Aug 28, 2009)

Toggle switches. Any and all of them.


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## TimMiller (Aug 28, 2009)

flip is both on the avo and hog. Its a nice little tool when you hit your limits, but can totally screw you in programming if you dont have your head on straight. I have to say i absolutely love the rollacue on the avo's. My favorite button on the hog is pig+release, b/c that means going home. Also fan is great when jumping into the effects generator. On the grandma I love the push to erect button, its just totally wrong.


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## mstutzman (Aug 28, 2009)

I absolutly loved the Microvision FX! Thats the ETC console I learned on!

I once had to do a studio show in NY that had what I think was the original Expression 1; it looked like a gang box with buttons. That was a great week of learning, Im not sure if I wanted to throw that console out the window more than the designer wanted to throw me out the front door.


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## SAWYeR (Aug 30, 2009)

Road Hog/Full Boar/III: "Suck" button.


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## Soxred93 (Aug 30, 2009)

I'm a simple man. On the ETC Express, my favorite is STAGE. It's a life saver when you can't figure out how to get out of a menu (especially when working with moving lights).

Although I do like the "Suck" button mentioned by the penultimate post.


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## chris325 (Aug 30, 2009)

The "meatball" button on the Innovator is the only interesting one, however, I still like the raw power of the blackout button. Especially when I'm working with a particularly disagreeable group of actors.

The "Back" button on the Innovator needs the little border like the GO button has. I seem to accidentally hit that one more than the GO button. And of course, the cue before is always a blackout. Gotta love Murphy's Law. 



Tex said:


> +1! I was going to post the same thing.
> That was my only reservation about upgrading. When you hit the GO button on an Encore, you have to mean it!
> Fortunately, the GO button on the Innovator is alright. The software on the other hand...



I share your Innovator pain.


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## Gildebrand (Aug 30, 2009)

I just lööööv the update button, before i found out what is was for i had to, LOAD 4, change som things, RECORD 4 MERGE, its just so much easier with a update button.


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## kesowul (Sep 2, 2009)

I miss having the RELEASE button on the EOS/Obsession... [SNEAK] > [ENTER] or [AT] > [ENTER] just doesn't do it for me.


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## Wolf (Sep 2, 2009)

the "offset" -> even or odd on ETC EOS/ION so quick


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## cupcakehitman (Sep 3, 2009)

The nice, big "Go" button on the ETC Ion. Why? Because having the Go button the same size as every other button on the Express was scary.


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## Soxred93 (Sep 3, 2009)

cupcakehitman said:


> Having the Go button the same size as every other button on the Express was scary.



To be fair, the Go button was a tiny bit larger than the other buttons on the Express.


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## artisanrhodes (Sep 4, 2009)

The power button on any console .Your day starts with it and end with it/


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## NJLX (Sep 5, 2009)

I personally like the big green go button of the Obsession II


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## jj3502 (Sep 5, 2009)

i like the solo mode (add / kill) button


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## edmedmoped (Sep 5, 2009)

Big chunky green 'GO' or the home button for the MAC 600s and 250s.


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## Charc (Sep 14, 2009)

derekleffew said:


> Dionysus, MicroVision FX. You should have seen the original!
> 
> 
> 
> MARTIN MINI MAC, HORIZON, NSI MLC16



ETC took the knob for the Element out of the MicroVision FX repair stock, I'm sure of it.


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## derekleffew (Sep 14, 2009)

Charc said:


> ETC took the knob for the Element out of the MicroVision FX repair stock, I'm sure of it.


Yep, that's why the Element doesn't have radio buttons for bank switching. Someone said "Hey we have thousands of these 25¢ knobs left over from the MVFX, let's design a console around them."


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## NickVon (Sep 14, 2009)

the "channel" bump/tap buttons on the ETC expression

Or the DIMMER WHEEL, on the ETC Insight 1 ( WEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee)


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## tjschroeder17 (Sep 25, 2009)

That one that says.....BLACKOUT!


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## Studio (Sep 25, 2009)

The Go x10 button on the strand console we have labeled it "no go" still gets the noobs


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## LandruDesign (Sep 26, 2009)

On the initial (perhaps prototype) Hog 2s the "Pig" button had a toilet icon instead. Gotta love it...


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## Lotos (Sep 26, 2009)

Not a button, and I don't know if it's been said...

But maaaan... Gotta love the 'Golfball' on the old Strand GSX/LBX series...


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## 030366 (Sep 27, 2009)

My favourite is the hold button on the ETC Express line; totally accessible and a serious lifesaver. But I also have frequent affairs with the submaster bump buttons.


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## calkew5 (Sep 27, 2009)

mstutzman said:


> I once had to do a studio show in NY that had what I think was the original Expression 1; it looked like a gang box with buttons. That was a great week of learning, Im not sure if I wanted to throw that console out the window more than the designer wanted to throw me out the front door.



I love the original Expression; it was the board I learned on. It had that HUGE level wheel that was so beautifully tactile. Not like the little plastic thing on the Ion or...ugh...the trackpad on the Express line. And the Expression 1 had this undocumented feature that I think was an accident...you could capture the levels of every channel in your cue by pressing the AT button once, then you could dial them up or down porportionally with that nice big wheel. 

I think you can do it on other boards with some other combination like AT, ENTER, ENTER or somesuch...but nothing beats that wheel. Definitely my favorite "button" ever.


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## rschwimmer (Sep 28, 2009)

gafftaper said:


> I installed one of these "Panic Buttons" on my console. It's great to see the reaction of people.
> 
> 
> 
> Hey Rschwimmer, Is there a way I can get one of these to work as my go button on my Strand Classic Palette?


 I think its a great IDEA!!!!


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## Smicks (Sep 28, 2009)

ETC SmartFade's "Magic" button. Sets a random level on all active channels. I think they put it there just so they had another button to take up space on the little consoles. It'll produce some of the most disgusting looks that you can ever imagine.


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## eternalfire1244 (Sep 29, 2009)

The Independent button patched to the coffee pot 
Doug Fleenor Design - DMX Coffee Pot, Mark II

or maybe the bump on the spare chan that has the Shock Collar on it. not quite sure what is more satisfying.

http://www.dfd.com/pdf/shokdata.pdf


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## VeeDubTDI (Sep 29, 2009)

soundlight said:


> GO button on the Colortran Encore. Without a doubt. KA-CHUNK!



I have to agree with this one, especially since I still have a working Encore that gets used on a daily basis.


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## xander (Sep 29, 2009)

Love the microvision. It was my first board as well. 12 dimmers and a microvision. Perfect for a nice little light lab (too bad this was the actual theater not a light lab). :-D Mine was the original microvision I think. Only one fader pair, 6 subs, keypad, and like 4 display/setup buttons? 

Anyway, on topic, one good button (actually a softkey) is "thru on" on the Strand 300/500 series desks. Extremely useful. "Cut" on Strands is also nice. Don't have to slide the faders down/up like on an ETC Express(ion).

-Tim


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## SteveB (Nov 3, 2009)

Apologies for dragging this out of the archives, but I thought I should share and maybe there's a lesson to be found.

I cued a show for the first time on my Ion, which wasn't fun, only due to the malfunctioning interface between the chair and the console, as I discovered that the Undo feature is by far the best feature I have found on any console I've used to date. 

I'm getting rid of un-used channels/subs never focused (and being anally retentive - I HAD to clean up, even though it's one run of a 1 hr. show) and I'm typing " Delete Subs 10-15" and missing the Sub button, so now the console thinks I'm deleting cues and (as per the malfunction mentioned above) I press Enter the 2nd time on the "Please Confirm" query. 

Oops. Well more like a BIG OOPS, as I look up to make sure the SM isn't around.

There were only 14 cues in the show, this being a one hr. kids show of Peter and the Wolf, so suddenly the show was shorter, or never coming out of Cue 9, which was a Blackout. 

Thru some quickly forming tears, I'm chanting "There's an Undo button around here somewhere, there's an Undo button somwhere...." and sure enough.

The button needs a sub label called "SYA" as a variation of CYA.

I also learned that my other favorite function (not really a button) is programing in Cue Only, not Track. Best done this way when the SM sets all the Preset cues all at the same time as "1, 10 & 14", then the bright cues as 2, 5, 13, etc.... then a couple of pull down cues, then some blackouts, etc... and Track is now my major issue and after running thru the cues (the SM was VERY patient with me) and finding mush, I get to do most of it all again, this time in Cue Only.

Lessons learned.

Steve Bailey
Brooklyn College


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## Esoteric (Nov 4, 2009)

The OOPS button on my MAs.

Mike


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