Tricks
Reference for the Tricks window and its selection, value and output tools.
Tricks holds the small operations that speed up programming: splitting a selection, releasing values and focusing the rig. Open it with Tricks in the top toolbar.
The window drops down from the top and closes again when you click outside it.
- Invert ghost
- Odd and Even
- Shuffle order
- Disable selected
- Sneak out and its dropdown
- Highlight and Lowlight
The window has three sections, SELECTION, VALUES and OUTPUT and a fourth column reserved for future tools.
Selection
Invert ghost
Swaps the selection with the ghost selection. What was selected becomes the ghost, what was ghosted becomes the selection.
This is the counterpart to Odd and Even, which is where the ghost usually comes from.
Odd and Even
Split the selection in two and put the half you did not keep into the ghost selection. Both need at least two fixtures selected.
- Odd keeps the 1st, 3rd, 5th fixture of the selection.
- Even keeps the 2nd, 4th, 6th fixture.
The order used here is the order in which you selected the fixtures, not their address.
These three work nicely together. Select a row, press Even and program those fixtures, then press Invert ghost and program the others.
Shuffle order
Randomizes the order of the fixtures in the selection. It does not change which fixtures are selected, only their order, which is what fanning and phase run along. Shuffling before you fan a value gives a scattered look instead of a clean gradient.
Values
Disable selected
Releases every programmer value of the selected fixtures at once. Useful when you have a group of fixtures and want it out of the way without clearing the whole programmer.
Sneak out
Fades the programmer out and clears it afterwards, instead of cutting like Clear programmer does. The button runs a progress bar while the fade is running.
The button itself fades over 2 seconds. Its dropdown offers 1 second and 5 seconds.
Sneak out can be useful when your programmer has values you don't need anymore, but want it to be a smooth transition when running a live show.
Output
Highlight and Lowlight
Highlight puts the selected fixtures at full white, Lowlight dims everything that is not selected. Both are toggles and both can be on at once.
Neither touches your scenes or the programmer. See Highlight and Lowlight.