Use Prepare Mode
Build the next look while the current one stays on stage, then start it on one click.
Prepare Mode parks the running Programmer and gives you an empty one to work in. The parked Programmer keeps rendering to the output, the new one is not rendered at all. When the look is ready you can fire it at once with Execute.
You can set up the next moment while the current one is still on stage, and hit Execute to start it.
Turn it on
Open Tricks in the top toolbar and press Prepare Mode under OUTPUT. The button turns into Clear and Execute, the Functions and Presets panels get an orange border and the footer shows PREPARE MODE.
To keep the buttons closer at hand, turn on Show Prepare Mode buttons in toolbar in Settings under General. They then sit in the top toolbar, left of Blind Edit.
Build the look
Everything works as usual. Select fixtures, set values, start effects or fire presets. None of it is reaching your rig, because the Programmer you are working in is not rendered.
Get out again
| Button | Result |
|---|---|
| Clear | Throws the prepared Programmer away. The parked one comes back untouched |
| Execute | Merges the prepared Programmer into the parked one and puts it back in front |
On Execute the prepared values win over the parked ones on the same channel, prepared effects render on top of the parked effects, and a prepared preset replaces a parked reference to the same preset. Everything else stays.
Presets that go live this way start their fade at that moment, not when you fired them in Prepare Mode.
From a controller
Control Mapping has four targets for it under Action:
| Target | Result |
|---|---|
| Enable / Execute Prepare Mode | One button for both. First press prepares, second executes |
| Enable Prepare Mode | Only turns it on |
| Clear Prepare Mode | Only discards |
| Execute Prepare Mode | Only executes |
All four report the Prepare Mode state as feedback, so a button on a MIDI controller or a ControlDeck lights while it is on.
Prepare Mode and Blind Edit
They solve different problems. Blind Edit suppresses the Programmer output entirely, which is what you want when fixing a Scene. Prepare Mode keeps the current Programmer on stage and gives you a second one, which is what you want when the show is running live using the Programmer.