1. BOOK 1: 550i BASICS STRAND 550i LIGHTING CONTROL CONSOLE Olympia High school Performing Arts Center November 07

2. ABOUT THIS MANUAL This manual is intended to be a basic tour of the Strand 550i lighting console. It is not intended to teach you how to use it other than turning it on and off properly and access the most commonly used functions. What this manual will cover: How to turn on and off the lighting console properly (this is VERY important) The locations of the various displays and functions and explain in very general terms what they do How to use pre-recorded lighting settings (submasters) What this manual will NOT cover: How to design your lights (deciding which lighting fixtures will work best for your needs). How to modify, customize, and record your own lighting cues, submasters, etc. It is very helpful to know some basics about lighting systems and control. To a great extent that is beyond the scope of this manual. I will attempt to make it understandable nonetheless.

3. WARNING! DO NOT OPERATE THE CONSOLE BEYOND YOUR KNOWLEDGE! Attempting to customize your own cues without the appropriate guidance will likely cause a great deal of school-inappropriate language from the next user. Seriously...you can easily cause significant problems including, but not limited to Erasing someone’s show (which may have taken many hours in rehearsal to record) Erasing your own work Altering the way the lights are controlled A host of other problems too complex to discuss here

4. BASIC CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGY WHY USE A COMPUTERIZED CONSOLE? Theatrical lighting systems for a stage the size of the PAC are very complex. This allows for maximum artistic creativity to light a scene or event. Think of the composer who has a vast array of instruments, sound effects, and recording techniques at his or her disposal to express a specific feeling to his or her audience. The flip side of this flexibility, of course, is that it is very time consuming to make all of those choices and experiment with them until that desired effect is achieved. In theatre, there is also the challenge of reliably replicating multiple effects for each performance. To accomplish this, lighting designers do what musicians do – they record them. The lighting console offers a bewildering array of options for customizing and keeping track of the lighting effects for a given event. I will only address the most basic here. A designer who is familiar with the console can mostly talk you through what you need to do, but it is very helpful if you have an understanding of some basic lighting system terms and if you know where things are on the console.

5. Fixture/instrument/ light The actual piece of equipment with a light source. Dimmer The electrical device that controls the flow of electricity to a particular fixture to make it bright or dim. Channel (or control channel) A number programmed by the operator and/or designer to control one or more dimmers. For example, if a fixture that lights the far downstage left area is plugged into dimmer 2, I can program channel 1 to control dimmer 2. This allows the organization of dimmers into logical, ordered systems. This will make more sense when you actually use it. Patch The connection of a dimmer to a control channel. When done using software (as on the lighting console) it may be referred to as a “soft patch.” Fader A sliding manual control Level The brightness or intensity of a particular setting Cue A set of channels set at various levels to create a particular look on the stage Submaster Similar to a cue, but recorded in a fader that may be controlled manually

6. Submasters - Faders that have the pre-set stage looks recorded into them Display Keys - selects what information to display/edit Power Grand Masters - The faders that control everything on the console. If this is not all the way up nothing will look right!

7. Trackball - selection tool Wheel - selection and adjustment tool Number/Edit keys - setting and editing channel levels, cues, submasters, etc. Record keys - for recording cues, submasters, etc. Softkeys - Buttons that change function depending on context. LCD displays show function

8. HOW TO TURN ON THE CONSOLE 1: Uncover the console. DO NOT place cover behind the console. The cooling fans for the computer are back there and covering them may result in serious overheating damage. 2: Turn on the power by pressing the power button. Note: video monitors are linked to the console and should turn on automatically. If not, turn on the monitors with the buttons. DO NOT turn off the console without following the appropriate shutdown procedures. All kinds of weird things may occur. Now that the board is on, take a tour on the following pages to figure out what information is available and where to find it.

9. THE DISPLAYS Different kinds of information are shown on different displays. Displays are selected by pressing the appropriate Display Key. The display you are in is shown at the top of the screen in the center (“Live” and “Archive” in the picture below.) Archive display - The screen that displays the memory functions of the console (drives, show selection, etc.). This is where you load and save shows.

10. Live display - The screen that displays cues and submasters. When this is active, all level changes will appear on stage in real time as well as on the display. Submasters Cues

11. Preview display - Allows channel levels in cues to be changed and recorded without changing them on stage. Very useful for editing cues out of sequence without changing the lights on stage. For example, in rehearsal or performance when changing the lights on stage would be disruptive. Note: The gray background behind the channels and the cue number displayed at the top.

12. Submaster display - Similar to preview, but allows editing and recording of channel levels in submasters without bringing them up on stage. Note: The gray background behind the channels and the submaster number displayed at the top.

13. Patch display - Allows editing of the patch – the connection of dimmers to control channels. Note: CH = channel; O/P = output, another term for dimmer. Patch information may be displayed in either channel order in numerical order by channel number or output order (pictured) in numerical order by dimmer number. To switch, push the appropriate softkey. This can be very useful for troubleshooting.

14. Report Display - Accesses the console shut-down sequence. Shutdown is accomplished through the report display using the appropriate softkeys. (See “Shut-Down” section for shut-down procedures).

15. HOW TO SHUT DOWN THE CONSOLE DO NOT turn off the console without following the appropriate shutdown procedures. All kinds of weird things may occur. 2: If you have made any changes you wish to keep, hit the save show softkey and wait for the recording function to finish. 3: Go to the Report display (see following pages for more details) 4: Hit the Exit softkey 1: TAKE ALL CHANNELS AND SUBMASTERS TO 0% If you don’t know what this means or how to do it, you have no business operating the console on your own. Save Show

16. 7: When the screen displays the message “Console shut down successfully” in severak languages (screen at right), hit the power button. 6: Hit the * key 5: Hit the Shutdown softkey (same button as the exit key) DO NOT TURN OFF MONITORS. THEY WILL GO INTO SLEEP MODE AND BE READY TO TURN ON WHEN THE BOARD IS RE-STARTED. 8: Re-cover the console