Use Presets

Presets are one-click buttons for looks, values and selections. They live in the Presets panel on a free grid, and they stay referenced in the Programmer instead of being copied once, so a preset you edit changes what is on stage.

Build a page

Use the page selector in the bottom right to switch pages or create one. Pages can sit in folders, which helps once you have a page per show or per rig.

Right-click an empty cell on the grid to add something. Every item can be dragged to a new spot and resized by its bottom right corner.

Start with a group. It is a colored block that sits behind the tiles and gives the page structure. Dragging a group takes the tiles on it along, so a finished palette moves in one piece.

A color palette

Add a capability preset, name it Red and set its Capability to Color and the color to red. Repeat for the colors you want.

Leave Apply to live selection on. The preset then acts on whatever is selected when you fire it, which is what you want for a palette.

Release other presets of the same capability is on by default, so clicking Green after Red drops those fixtures out of Red instead of stacking two color presets on the same lights.

A position palette

Positions are per fixture, a single pan and tilt value is no use across a rig. Build one preset for the position and record the individual angles into it:

1. Point every fixture where it should go, using the Functions panel or the Stageview.
2. Add a capability preset with Capability set to Pan/Tilt, name it Stage Center.
3. Select the fixtures and press Record selection under Overrides.

Each recorded fixture now keeps its own angle. Fixtures without a recording fall back to the shared value.

The same works for Color, Zoom and every other capability, which is how you build a palette that is fixture aware.

A selection preset

Add a selection preset and give it fixtures or groups. Firing it replaces the selection by default.

There is a reason to fire the selection preset first and the capability preset second: nextDMX remembers that the selection came from that preset. The color preset you fire afterwards then references the selection preset rather than a fixed fixture list, so adding a light to the selection preset also adds it to the color.

A snapshot of everything

Build a look, effects included, then add a value/effect preset. It captures the whole Programmer, or only the selected fixtures if you set its scope to Selected fixtures only.

Overwrite in the edit dialog recaptures the current Programmer into the same button.

Fading presets in

By default a preset snaps. Set Preset Fade Time in Settings under General to give every preset a fade, in milliseconds or in beats, and override it per preset in its Fade Time field.

Only channels that make sense to crossfade are faded. Color wheels, gobos and shutter modes still snap, so a fade never sweeps through the slots in between.

Lock the page for the show

The lock button next to the page selector turns editing off. Tiles no longer drag, right-click does nothing and a click only fires the preset. Turn it on before you go live so nothing moves by accident.

Where to go next

• Organize with Groups and Folders
• Map MIDI and Keyboard to fire presets from hardware.
• Use Prepare Mode to build a look off stage and start it on a keystroke.
• See Presets Reference for a full description of the panel.