ChamSys MagicQ MQ70 Users Manual

MagicQ User Manual i

MagicQ User Manual

MagicQ User Manual ii

REVISION HISTORY

NUMBER DATE DESCRIPTION NAME

v1.8.6.6 30/01/2020 ChamSys

MagicQ User Manual iii

Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 MagicQ software and consoles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.2 MagicQ MQ500 Stadium Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.3 MagicQ Compact Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.4 MagicQ Wings for use with PC/Mac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1.5 Plugging Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1.6 DMX Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1.7 Powering Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1.8 Powering Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.9 Resetting the Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.10 Hard Reset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.11 Power Supply Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.12 Care of your MagicQ console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

1.13 Safety Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

1.14 Disposal Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2 Installing MagicQ Software & Drivers 7

2.1 MagicQ software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2.2 MagicDMX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2.3 MagicQ Wings & Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2.4 MagicQ on Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2.4.1 User permissions on Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2.5 MagicQ on Mac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2.5.1 OSX 10.11 El Capitan or later . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2.5.2 Turning off App Nap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2.5.3 Making the MagicQ folder writeable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

2.6 MagicQ on Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

2.6.1 Installing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

2.6.2 High DPI screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

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3 Using MagicQ on PCs and Macs 18

3.1 Simple Generic Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

3.2 Technician Test Fixture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

3.3 Demo Shows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

3.4 Touch View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

3.5 Playback mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

3.6 Copy and paste to external applications via the clipboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

3.7 MagicQ PC / Mac Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

3.8 MagicHD Stand Alone Restriction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

4 MagicQ Concepts 24

4.1 Show Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

4.2 Output channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

4.2.1 HTP / LTP channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

4.3 Cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

4.4 Cue Stacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

4.5 Playbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

4.6 Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

4.7 FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

4.8 Window Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

4.9 Shift Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

4.10 The Programmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

4.11 Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

5 MagicQ Layout 28

5.1 Physical layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

5.1.1 Touch Screen, Encoders & Soft Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

5.1.2 Main Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

5.1.2.1 Window Sizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

5.1.2.2 Support for Find in MagicQ windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

5.1.3 Status and Display Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

5.1.4 Head Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

5.1.5 Editor Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

5.1.6 Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

5.2 Keyboard, Keypad, Select & Confirm Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

5.3 Common Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

5.3.1 Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

5.3.2 Setting the value of items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

5.3.3 Naming items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

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5.3.4 Moving items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

5.3.5 Copying items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

5.3.6 Removing items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

5.3.7 Recording items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

5.4 Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

5.4.1 Actions on Playbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

6 Quick Start 36

6.1 Starting up MagicQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

6.2 Calibrating the Touch Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

6.3 Starting a New Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

6.4 Enabling Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

6.4.1 Using Direct DMX Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

6.4.2 Using Outputs via network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

6.5 Connecting a MagicQ Playback Wing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

6.5.1 Setting Playback Wing IDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

6.6 Connecting External Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

6.7 Patching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

6.7.1 Naming and Numbering Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

6.8 Controlling Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

6.8.1 Selecting Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

6.8.2 Selecting heads from the Group/Heads Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

6.8.3 Recording a Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

6.9 Naming a Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

6.10 Recalling a Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

6.11 Setting Levels for Dimmers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

6.12 Locating Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

6.13 Modifying Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

6.14 Recording a Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

6.15 Adding in FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

6.16 Recording a Cue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

6.17 Recording a Cue Stack (Chase or Theatre Stack) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

6.18 Selecting and recording complete window layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

6.19 Saving the Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

6.20 Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

MagicQ User Manual vi

7 Patching 51

7.1 Patching on MagicQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

7.2 Getting started with patching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

7.3 Patching a Head or Dimmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

7.4 Head Names and Head Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

7.4.1 Head Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

7.4.2 Head Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

7.4.3 Renumbering Head Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

7.4.4 Patching to specific Head numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

7.5 Gel name and number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

7.6 Col Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

7.7 Generating auto groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

7.8 Auto Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

7.9 Heads with multiple elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

7.9.1 Duplicated Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

7.9.2 Multi Element Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

7.10 Inverting and Swapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

7.11 Pan and Tilt Offsets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

7.12 Applying Offsets using Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

7.13 Minimum and Maximum levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

7.13.1 Limits and Offset. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

7.14 Dimmer curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

7.15 Testing channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

7.16 Changing the DMX address of heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

7.17 Patching a Head to multiple DMX addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

7.18 Unpatching a Head from a DMX address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

7.19 Patching scrollers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

7.20 Editing Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

7.21 Cloning (Adding extra heads / dimmers to a programmed show) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

7.21.1 Copy Head Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

7.21.2 Patch Channel Copy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

7.22 Morphing Heads (Changing Head type) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

7.22.1 Morphing multi element heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

7.22.2 Morphing Heads with virtual dimmers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

7.22.3 Morphing between CMY and colour wheel Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

7.23 Importing Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

7.23.1 Supported column headings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

7.23.2 WYSIWYG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

7.23.3 VectorWorks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

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7.23.4 Creating a head list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

7.24 Exporting Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

7.25 VL5 type channels (split personalities) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

7.26 Merging with DMX input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

7.27 Customising Locate, Default, Highlight and Lowlight values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

7.28 Theatre Patch syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

7.29 Virtual Dimmers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

7.29.1 Quickly adding Virtual Dimmers to patched heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

7.29.2 Heads always with virtual dimmers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

7.30 Patch Head Filtering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

7.30.1 Duplicated elements operating independently . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

8 Setting Intensity levels 70

8.1 Using the on screen faders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

8.2 Using the encoders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

8.3 Using the keypad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

8.3.1 Setting fade times from the keypad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

8.4 Setting intensity FX from the keypad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

8.5 Multi Element Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

8.6 Setting intensity levels for DMX channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

8.7 Using Selected Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

8.8 Using gel colours in the Intensity Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

8.8.1 Programming of Dimmers using gel colours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

8.9 Setting levels whilst running a show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

8.10 Viewing Intensities in the Outputs Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

9 Controlling Attributes 75

9.1 Selecting Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

9.2 Using Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

9.2.1 Recording a Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

9.2.2 Naming a Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

9.2.3 Setting Group Icon or Col Tag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

9.3 Selecting Heads using the keypad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

9.3.1 Selecting Heads on the keypad using @@ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

9.3.2 Selecting heads on the keypad without @@ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

9.3.3 Remove Dimmer (Rem Dim) Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

9.4 Selecting heads using the rig plan view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

9.5 Head Macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

9.6 Locating Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

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9.7 Modifying Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

9.8 Using a mouse or track-ball to control pan and tilt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

9.9 Colour Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

9.10 Flip / Mirror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

9.11 Setting attribute values using the keypad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

9.12 Reversing rotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

9.13 Selecting individual Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

9.13.1 Single Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

9.13.2 Pair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

9.13.3 Odd/Even . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

9.13.4 Segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

9.13.5 All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

9.13.6 Sub selecting Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

9.13.7 Sub selecting heads using specific palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

9.13.8 Changing Overall Selection order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

9.13.9 Sub selection of heads from Groups / Overall Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

9.14 Sub selection of elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

9.14.1 Element selection in the Group window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

9.14.2 Groups with element selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

9.15 Sub Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

9.16 Highlight Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

9.17 Lowlight function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

9.18 Reselecting heads using Palettes and Intensities (Active Palette and Intensity) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

9.19 Fan Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

9.20 And Only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

9.21 Group Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

9.22 Using Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

9.23 Recording Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

9.23.1 Recording individual attributes into a Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

9.23.2 Recording only the selected heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

9.24 Intensity Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

9.25 Duplicate elements in Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

9.26 Naming Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

9.27 Updating Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

9.28 Copying and moving Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

9.29 Removing attributes from Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

9.30 Viewing / Editing Palette contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

9.31 Linked Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

9.32 Using Palettes with times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

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9.32.1 Using FAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

9.33 Making Palettes into Cue Stacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

9.34 Selecting Palettes from the keypad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

9.35 Merging of Palettes from another show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

9.36 Modifying Palettes in the personality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

9.37 Capturing Palettes from DMX input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

9.37.1 Manual Palette Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

9.37.2 Auto Palette Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

9.37.3 Manual capture from Palette windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

9.37.4 Manual Including into the Programmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

9.38 Expanding Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

9.39 Replacing Palettes in Cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

9.40 Tracker Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

10 FX Engine 95

10.1 Adding in FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

10.1.1 FX Speed & Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

10.1.2 FX base values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

10.1.3 FX add modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

10.1.4 FX Spread (offsets over heads) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

10.1.5 FX Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

10.1.6 FX Segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

10.1.7 FX Direction & Inversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

10.1.8 Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

10.1.9 FX fade times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

10.1.10 FX delay times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

10.1.11 Initial spreads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

10.1.12 FX on CMY and RGB fixtures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

10.1.13 Flicker FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

10.1.14 Multiple FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

10.1.15 Joining / Splitting multiple FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

10.1.16 Modifying FX for selected Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

10.1.17 Changing FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

10.1.18 FX Reordering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

10.1.19 Blocking FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

10.1.20 One Shot FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

10.2 Generating user FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

10.3 Editing user FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

10.4 Palette FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

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10.4.1 Palette FX on heads with different attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

10.4.2 User created Palette FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

10.5 FX colour flicks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

10.6 FX using base colour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

10.7 Group based FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

10.7.1 Group FX Spread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

10.8 FX on Heads with Duplicated Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

10.9 FX Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

10.10Importing and Exporting the FX Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

11 Programmer 109

11.1 What is in the programmer? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

11.2 Clearing the programmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

11.3 Activation by Channel or by Head? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

11.4 Recording a Cue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

11.4.1 Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

11.4.2 Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

11.4.3 FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

11.5 Split Cue Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

11.5.1 View Simple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

11.5.1.1 Fade Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

11.5.2 View Advanced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

11.6 Recording to a specific Cue Id . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

11.7 Snapshot Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

11.8 Record Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

11.8.1 Record Short cuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

11.8.2 Masking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

11.8.3 Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

11.9 Active . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

11.10Removing channels from the Programmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

11.10.1 Removing channels using the REMOVE button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

11.10.2 Removing channels using the Programmer Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

11.11Making channels hard values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

11.12Copy between heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

11.13Blind programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

11.14Parking (freezing) channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

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12 Outputs Windows 118

12.1 Heads View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

12.2 Intensity View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

12.3 DMX Channels View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

12.4 Movement View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

12.5 Chart View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

12.6 Plan View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

12.6.1 Creating rig plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

12.6.2 Inserting heads using heads numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

12.6.3 Inserting Heads using Insert Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

12.6.4 Output Grid Multi Head Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

12.6.5 Output Grid display modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

12.6.6 Selection of heads in Outputs Plan View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

12.6.7 Groups within Grids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

13 Editing Cues 124

13.1 Including Cues into the Programmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

13.1.1 Including Cues at a specified level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

13.1.2 Snapshot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

13.2 Editing using Include and Update method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

13.3 Record Merge (Updating a Cue with the contents of the programmer) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

13.4 Making changes to multiple Cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

13.4.1 Changes to multiple Cues using keypad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

13.4.2 Changes to multiple Cues using Cue Stack window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

13.5 Editing using Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

13.6 Direct Modification of Intensities in Cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

13.7 Copy heads in Cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

14 Cue Stacks 127

14.1 Cue Stack Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

14.2 Chase Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

14.3 Cue Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

14.3.1 Cue Timing Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

14.3.2 The Halt field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

14.3.3 Cue Delay and Fade times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

14.4 Tracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

14.4.1 Tracking on MagicQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

14.4.2 Viewing Cue Data and Tracking Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

14.4.3 Tracking out FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

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14.4.4 Copying Cues in tracking mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

14.4.5 Blocking / Unblocking Cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

14.5 Cue Only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

14.6 Mark Cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

14.7 The Cue Store and Cue Stack Store . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

14.8 Assigning Cues and Cue Stacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

14.9 Copying and Moving Cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

14.10Linked Cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

14.11Copying Cue Stacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

14.11.1 Selective copying of Cue Stacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

14.11.2 Creating a new Cue Stack for different heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

14.12Removing Cues and Cue Stacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

14.13Cue Stack Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

14.14Col Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

14.15Audio Sound FX Cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

14.16Cue Stack Macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

14.17Timecode Cue Stacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

14.17.1 Editing timecode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

14.17.2 Learn Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

14.17.3 Testing timecode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

14.17.4 External timecode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

14.17.5 Timecode offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

14.17.6 Automatic activation and release of Playbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

14.17.7 Internal timecode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

14.17.8 Enabling / Disabling Timecode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

14.18Cue Stack time code tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

14.19Importing timecode timings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

14.20Timeline / Track Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

14.20.1 Track Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

14.20.2 Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

15 Playback 142

15.1 Playback Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

15.2 Activating and Releasing Playbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

15.3 Fader control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

15.4 Playback Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

15.4.1 Playbacks without faders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

15.4.2 Grand Master & Sub Master . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

15.4.3 Dead Black Out (DBO) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

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15.4.4 Add / Swap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

15.4.5 Page Select . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

15.4.6 Page Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

15.4.7 Current Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

15.4.8 Playbacks across multiple Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

15.4.9 Page Holdover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

15.4.10 Manual Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

15.4.11 Goto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

15.4.12 Manual Split Crossfade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

15.4.13 Rate Sub Master . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

15.4.14 Tap to time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

15.4.15 Global Tap to Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

15.5 Playbacks Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

15.5.1 Testing playbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

15.5.2 Naming playbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

15.5.3 Copying and moving playbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

15.5.4 Removing playbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

15.5.5 Playback Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

15.5.6 Checking Active playbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

15.5.7 Moving Playbacks for all pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

15.6 Wing Playbacks Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

15.7 Default Cue Stacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

15.8 Synchronising Playbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

15.9 Set lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

16 Cue Stack Options 151

16.1 Faders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

16.1.1 Fader activates stack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

16.1.2 Fader releases stack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

16.1.3 Fader controls HTP chans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

16.1.4 Fader controls LTP (IPCB) chans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

16.1.5 Fader controls Absolute chans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

16.1.6 Fader controls FX size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

16.1.7 Fader controls FX speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

16.1.8 Fader controls manual crossfades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

16.1.9 Fader jumps to Cue Step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

16.2 Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

16.2.1 Flash activates stack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

16.2.2 Flash releases stack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

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16.2.3 Flash always swaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

16.2.4 Flash acts as Go/Pause . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

16.2.5 Flash acts as Flash + Go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

16.2.6 Flash toggles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

16.2.7 Flash acts like fader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

16.2.8 Go jumps out of loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

16.2.9 Go exits loop after end . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

16.2.10 Go stop/starts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

16.2.11 Pause swaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

16.2.12 Pause releases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

16.3 Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

16.3.1 Cue Stack is an Intensity Master . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

16.3.2 Cue Stack is a Size Master . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

16.3.3 Cue Stack is a Speed Master . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

16.3.4 Group ID (0 is not used) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

16.3.5 Group Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

16.3.6 Cue stack is a Prog Master . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

16.3.7 Intensity Master to 200% . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

16.4 Activate/Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

16.4.1 Halt at last step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

16.4.2 Release after last step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

16.4.3 Release resets to first step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

16.4.4 Release steps 1 step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

16.4.5 Release time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

16.4.6 Release Executes Last Step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

16.4.7 Activate on page change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

16.4.8 Release on page change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

16.4.9 HTP always active (Use HTP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

16.5 Advanced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

16.5.1 All chans controlled LTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

16.5.2 Block FX from other playbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

16.5.3 Masters affect level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

16.5.4 Playback priority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

16.5.5 Move when dark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

16.5.6 Recalculate state on jumps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

16.5.7 Stomp other playbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

16.5.8 Sync next Playback to this one . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

16.5.9 External timecode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

16.5.10 Send playback state to other consoles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

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16.6 Chase Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

16.6.1 Skip first times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

16.6.2 Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

16.6.3 Xfade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

16.6.4 Direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

16.6.5 Repeat type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

16.6.6 Number of repeats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

16.6.7 Running . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

16.7 Chase Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

16.7.1 HTP in fade, HTP out fade, Position fade, Colour fade, Beam fade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

16.8 Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

16.8.1 Audio bumps Go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

16.8.2 Audio sets BPM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

16.8.3 Audio jumps to Cue Step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

16.8.4 Audio channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

16.8.5 Audio level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

16.8.6 Audio parameter 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

16.8.7 Audio parameter 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

16.8.8 Rate Divisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

16.9 Step (View Defaults only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

16.9.1 Step controlled as a chase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

16.9.2 Step follows last . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

16.9.3 Step halts before executing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

16.9.4 Zero old HTP (from previous steps) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

16.9.5 Zero old FX (from previous steps) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

16.9.6 Release old chans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

16.10Step Times (View Defaults only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

16.10.1 HTP in fade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

16.10.2 HTP out fade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

16.10.3 Position fade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

16.10.4 Colour fade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

16.10.5 Beam fade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

16.10.6 HTP in delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

16.10.7 HTP out delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

16.10.8 Position delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

16.10.9 Colour delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

16.10.10Beam delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

16.11FX (View Defaults Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

16.11.1 Default in fade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

16.11.2 Default out fade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

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17 Advanced Playback / Cue Stack Options 165

17.1 Interaction of HTP and LTP channels between Playbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

17.2 HTP handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

17.3 HTP always active (Use HTP) option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

17.4 LTP handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

17.5 Interaction of FX between Playbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

17.6 Playback Priority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

17.7 Playbacks ignore masters levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

17.8 Playback Stomping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

17.9 Group Masters (Inhibit Masters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

17.9.1 Intensity Masters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

17.9.1.1 Group based Intensity Masters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

17.9.1.2 Channel based Intensity Masters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

17.9.2 FX Size and FX Speed Master . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

17.9.2.1 Group based FX Size and FX Speed Masters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

17.9.2.2 Channel based FX Size and FX Speed Masters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

17.10Advanced activate and release options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

18 Live Programming (Busking) 169

18.1 Adding individual channels using preset faders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

18.2 Over-ride / take-over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

18.3 Viewing Cues and Cue Stacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

18.4 Modifying chase speed / contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

18.5 Modifying FX parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

18.6 Stop / Starting Cue Stacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

18.7 Jumping to a Cue in a Cue Stack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

18.8 Over-riding using the programmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

18.9 Adding in new FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

18.10Applying palettes with time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

18.11Releasing / Clearing with time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

18.12Busking Master . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

18.13Programmer Master . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

19 Execute Window 173

19.1 Design View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

19.2 Full Screen View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

19.3 Password Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

19.4 Automated Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

19.5 Faders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

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19.6 Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

19.7 Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

19.8 Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

19.9 Rate and parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

19.10Execute Window FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

19.11Execute Window Soft Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

19.12Execute Window sequencing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

19.13Button appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

19.14Speed Encoders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

19.15Attribute Encoders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

19.16Preload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

19.17Wallpaper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

19.17.1 Assigning Execute Pages to Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

19.18Special Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

19.18.1 Changing Execute Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

19.18.2 Automating Setup options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

19.18.3 Timecode And Timings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

19.18.4 User . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

19.18.5 Execute Window Playback / Cue Stack information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

19.19Execute Window on ioS/Android remote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

19.20Execute Buttons on console/wing Playback Go/Pause buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

19.21Multiple Execute windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

20 Automation 181

20.1 MagicQ Automation Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

20.1.1 Autom Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

20.1.2 Autom Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

20.1.3 MIDI events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

20.1.4 Serial Port events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

20.2 Scheduled Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

20.2.1 Dates and days of the week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

20.2.2 Sunrise + Sunset (astronomical) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

20.3 Automated Start of Playbacks / Executes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

20.4 Keyboard macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

20.4.1 Recording keyboard macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

20.4.2 Playing keyboard macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

20.4.3 Keyboard macro timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

20.4.4 Editing keyboard macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

20.4.5 Assigning keyboard macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

20.4.6 Quick Macro Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

20.4.7 Recording Playback faders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

20.4.8 In built Macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

20.4.9 Scheduled events in Cue Stacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

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21 LED & Pixel Mapping 187

21.1 Patching LED on MagicQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

21.2 Using the Grid view in the Outputs Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

21.2.1 Inserting heads into the grid using head numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

21.2.2 Inserting using INSERT HEADS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

21.2.3 Inserting using the spare heads below the grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

21.2.4 Using the Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

21.3 Pixel Mapper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

21.3.1 Using Bitmaps, Movies, Text and FX on Grids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

21.3.2 Media Priority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

21.3.3 Inbuilt Bitmaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

21.3.4 User Picture Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

21.3.5 Gobo / Colour Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

21.3.6 Movie support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

21.3.7 Gif animations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

21.3.8 Live feed support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

21.3.8.1 MagicCap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

21.3.9 Using text strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

21.3.10 Text display modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

21.3.11 Manipulating bitmaps and text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

21.3.12 Pixel Map FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

21.3.13 Pixel Map Audio FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

21.3.14 Mixing between Pixel Mapping layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

21.3.15 Colour Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

21.3.16 Apply Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

21.4 3D Pixel Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

21.4.1 Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

21.4.2 Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

21.4.2.1 Slide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

21.4.2.2 Particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

21.4.2.3 Col Offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

21.4.2.4 Heightmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

21.4.3 Full Up and Fill Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

21.4.3.1 Particle bounce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

21.5 Multi Element Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

21.6 Making Grids of Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

21.6.1 Auto Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

21.7 Programming LED using standard FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

21.7.1 Using groups auto generated from the grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

21.8 Making groups out of LED pixels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

21.9 Making new LED personalities on MagicQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

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22 Controlling Media Servers 214

22.1 Patching Media Servers on MagicQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

22.2 Connecting via network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

22.2.1 Setting up control of the Media Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

22.3 Configuring the Media Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

22.3.1 Simple Media Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

22.3.2 Advanced Media Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

22.3.3 MagicHD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

22.3.4 Arkaos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

22.3.5 Catalyst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

22.3.6 Coolux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

22.3.7 Hippotizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

22.3.8 Maxedia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

22.3.9 Mbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

22.3.10 Other Media Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

22.4 Thumbnail view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

22.5 Live Previews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

22.6 Media Window View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

22.7 Using MagicQ and Media Server software on the same PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

22.7.1 Using MagicHD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

22.7.2 Using the loopback IP address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

22.8 CITP (MSEX) live feeds and MagicCap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

22.9 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

23 Head Editor 221

23.1 How Heads are stored in MagicQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

23.2 Loading new heads into MagicQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

23.3 Copying head files created on PC/Macs to MagicQ consoles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

23.4 Modifying existing heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

23.5 Removing old heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

23.6 General View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

23.6.1 Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

23.6.2 DMX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

23.6.3 Params . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

23.6.4 Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

23.6.5 Multi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

23.6.6 Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

23.7 Channels View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

23.7.1 Size, Instant and Slow Encoder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

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23.7.2 Default and Locate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

23.7.3 Highlight / Lowlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

23.7.4 Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

23.7.5 Independent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

23.7.6 Select . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

23.8 Ranges View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

23.8.1 Importing Ranges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

23.8.2 Capturing Ranges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

23.8.3 Attribute Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

23.9 Palettes View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

23.9.1 Importing Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

23.9.2 Capturing Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

23.9.3 Attribute Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

23.10Macros View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

23.11User Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

23.12Heads with multiple elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

23.12.1 Creating Duplicated Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

23.12.2 Patching Heads with Duplicated attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

23.12.3 Custom Element layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

23.12.4 Old MagicQ multi elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

23.13Custom gel libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

24 Curve Editor 236

24.1 Creating a curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

24.2 Editing a curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

24.3 Setting a dimmer curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

25 FX Editor 238

25.1 View General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

25.2 View Chans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

25.3 Palette FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

26 Network Manager (SnakeSys) 241

26.1 Normal (non ChamNet mode) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

26.2 ChamNet Mode (MQ Net) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

26.3 Upgrading SnakeSys firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

26.4 Older ChamSys 4 Port Ethernet interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

26.5 Output Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

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27 Remote Device Management (RDM) 244

27.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

27.2 Discovering and configuring devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

27.2.1 Configuring devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

27.2.2 Identifying devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

27.2.3 Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

27.3 Auto patching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

28 Networking of MagicQ systems 248

28.1 Network addresses and host names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

28.1.1 Setting IP addresses on a PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

28.2 Checking IP addresses - Ping Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

28.3 Checking consoles on the network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

28.4 Grabbing shows from other consoles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

28.5 Zoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

28.6 Setting up Network Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

28.6.1 Manual Takeover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

28.6.2 Auto Takeover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

28.6.3 Inhibit Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

28.7 Multi Console Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

28.7.1 Checking Slave synchronisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

28.8 Selective Channel Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

28.8.1 Selecting which console controls which channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

28.9 Playback Sync modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

28.9.1 Net Sessions Master clash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

28.10Inter Console Messaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

29 Manual configuration of Multi Console operation 258

29.1 Manual configuration of Hot take-over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

29.1.1 Hot Takeover Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

29.1.2 Hot take-over type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

29.1.3 Swapping control between multiple consoles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

29.2 Manual configuration of Playback synchronisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

29.2.1 Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

29.2.2 Configuring which consoles Playback sync to which consoles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

29.3 Manual configuration of Show Data Synchronisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

29.4 Manual configuration of Selective Channel Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

29.5 Automatic backing up of shows from other consoles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

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30 Remote control of MagicQ 264

30.1 Remote mode (PC/Mac) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

30.2 Remote control from MagicQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

30.3 iOS / Android Remote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

30.3.1 Setting up an access point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

30.3.2 MagicQ Pro 2010 Console with USB to Wireless interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

30.3.2.1 Making a connection to MagicQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

30.3.2.2 Modifying palettes with the remote app . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

30.3.2.3 Using the Execute Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

30.3.2.4 Idiot user mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

30.4 Remote control via web server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

30.4.1 Custom Web Server pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

30.5 Remote control using Magic Wand simulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

31 ChamSys Remote Protocol Commands 275

31.1 Remote Playback Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

31.2 Remote programming commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

31.2.1 Attribute numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

32 Controlling MagicQ using TCP/IP 278

32.1 ChamSys Remote Ethernet Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

32.2 Writing to the network port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

32.3 Reading from the network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

32.4 Sample code fragments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

33 Controlling MagicQ using serial port 283

33.1 Enabling the serial port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

33.2 Writing to the serial port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

33.3 Reading from the serial port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

33.4 Testing receiving serial commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

34 Audio 285

34.1 Audio Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

34.1.1 Audio input ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

34.1.2 Audio options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

34.1.3 Global audio settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

34.1.4 Cue Stack audio options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

34.1.5 Pixel Mapper and Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

34.2 Audio play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

34.3 Control of Winamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

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35 MIDI 288

35.1 MIDI Notes Receive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

35.1.1 MIDI Autom events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

35.1.2 MIDI mapping file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

35.1.3 Advanced MIDI mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

35.1.4 Default miditable.txt file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

35.2 MIDI Notes Transmit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

35.2.1 Patching MIDI channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

35.3 MIDI problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

35.4 MIDI Show Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

35.4.1 MIDI Show Control Command Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

35.5 MIDI Beat Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

35.6 MagicQ MIDI/Timecode firmware versions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

36 Timecode Support 295

36.1 Timecode Decode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

36.2 Timecode from Winamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

36.3 Timecode from MagicHD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

36.4 Timecode Simulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

36.5 Timecode Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

36.6 Timecode Re-transmit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

37 Remote Input port 298

37.1 Connection (MagicQ Consoles, MagicQ PC Wing Compact and MagicQ MaxiWing) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

37.2 Connection (Original PC Wing) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

37.3 Enabling the remote input in MagicQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

38 Scene Setter 301

38.1 Powering the Scene Setter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

38.2 Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

38.3 Using the Scene Setter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

38.4 Changing the IP Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

38.5 Setting up the Serial Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

39 Open Sound Control (OSC) 304

39.1 Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

39.2 Receiving messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

39.2.1 MagicQ OSC addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

39.2.2 Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

39.3 Sending messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

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39.3.1 Cue stack macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

39.3.2 Patching OSC heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

39.4 TouchOSC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

39.5 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

39.5.1 Transmit or receive not working . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

39.5.2 Messages getting lost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

39.6 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

40 MagicQ Visualiser 308

40.1 MagicVis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

40.1.1 Using the Separate MagicVis Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

40.1.2 Using MagicVis with other consoles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

40.1.3 Using the Visualiser in MagicQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

40.2 Using MagicVis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

40.2.1 Patching Fixtures in the Visualiser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

40.2.2 View Vis View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

40.2.3 Positioning the Heads in the Visualisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

40.2.4 Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

40.2.5 Drapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313

40.2.6 Custom Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313

40.2.7 Attaching Heads to Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

40.2.8 Modifying Beam Angle and Fixture Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

40.2.9 Visualising Media Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

40.2.10 Moving Trusses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

40.2.11 Coloured objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

40.2.12 DMX Controlled Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

40.2.13 Removing Visualiser Heads and Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

40.2.14 Changing the Size of the Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

40.2.15 Paperwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

40.2.16 Converting an Existing MagicQ Show File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

40.2.17 Converting a MagicQ Grid Into a Visualisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

40.2.18 Visualiser Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

40.3 Plot Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

40.3.1 Focus Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

40.3.2 Converting the Plot View into a MagicQ Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

41 Blind Visualisation 321

41.1 Split Visualisation in MagicVis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

41.2 Automatic Source Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

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42 Using MagicQ with other Visualisers 323

42.1 Connecting to a Visualiser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

42.2 Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

42.2.1 Receiving Patch Data from Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

42.3 WYSIWYG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324

42.3.1 Enabling MagicQ to output WYSIWYG data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324

42.3.2 Running WYSIWYG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324

42.3.3 Auto Patch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

42.3.4 Auto Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

42.3.5 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

42.4 ESP Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

43 Settings 327

43.1 Programming Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

43.2 Playback Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

43.3 Advanced Settings Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

43.4 Output Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

43.4.1 Configuring Output Universes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

43.4.2 Using Art-Net II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

43.4.3 Using ACN Streaming DMX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

43.4.4 SnakeSys T2/B4/R4/R8/ChamSys Ethernet Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

43.4.5 MagicQ Consoles Direct Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

43.4.6 MagicQ Stadium Wing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

43.4.7 MagicQ Mini/PC/Maxi Wing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

43.4.8 MagicQ Dual DMX Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

43.4.9 MagicDMX Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

43.4.10 Support for Lumen Radio Nova . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

43.4.11 3rdparty DMX dongles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

43.4.12 Testing Output Universes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

43.4.13 Copying Output Universes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

43.4.14 Hot take-over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

43.4.15 Input universes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

43.5 Wing Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

43.5.1 Connecting a Mini Wing, PC Wing or Maxi Wing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

43.5.2 Connecting Playback Wings and Extra Wings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

43.5.3 Connecting an Execute Wing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

43.5.4 Using a MQ60 as a network wing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

43.5.5 Connecting MagicQ consoles together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

43.5.6 Using an external DMX console for extra playbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

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43.6 Monitor Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

43.6.1 MQ500 Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

43.6.2 Pro 2010 and Pro 2014 Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

43.6.3 Pro (pre Pro 2010) Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

43.6.4 MQ80 Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

43.6.5 Compact (MQ40N/MQ60/MQ70) Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

43.6.6 Monitor settings on MagicQ PC / Mac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

43.6.7 Moving Windows to the External Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

43.6.8 Additional Cue Stack, Output, Programmer, Media, Execute, Group Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

43.6.9 Additional external screens (MultiWindows) on consoles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

43.7 Touch Screen Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

43.7.1 Serial protocols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

43.7.2 USB protocols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

43.7.3 Configuring an external Touch Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

43.8 Mode & Security Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

43.8.1 Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

43.8.2 Time Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

43.8.3 Latitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

43.8.4 Longitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

43.8.5 Console Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

43.8.6 Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

43.8.7 Modifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

43.8.8 Test Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

43.8.9 Macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

43.8.10 Visualiser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

43.8.11 Auto Backup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

43.8.12 Keep a backup archive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344

43.8.13 Show file path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344

43.8.14 Show file format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344

43.9 Programming Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344

43.9.1 Activate Chans / Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344

43.9.2 Programmer Tracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344

43.9.3 Unused Chans return to defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345

43.9.4 Programmer overrides HTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345

43.9.5 Programmer overrides FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345

43.9.6 Highlight mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345

43.9.7 Fan Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345

43.9.8 Select Multiple Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

43.9.9 Recording to Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

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43.9.10 Record merge overrides times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

43.9.11 Update Clears Programmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

43.9.12 Undo mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

43.10Keypad / Encoder Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

43.10.1 Auto enter on keypad intensity set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

43.10.2 Select heads on keypad intensity set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

43.10.3 Select Heads and Palettes from keypad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

43.10.4 Select heads on include . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

43.10.5 Keypad always selects heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

43.10.6 Keypad Syntax (Theatre Patch) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

43.10.7 Encoder Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348

43.10.8 Swap pan and tilt encoders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348

43.10.9 Swap Encoder direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348

43.10.10Swap Palette and Cursor Page Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348

43.10.11MagicQ keyboard mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349

43.10.12Map Keys to THRU, @, FULL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

43.10.13Enable Mouse to control pan/tilt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

43.10.14Intensity Wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

43.11Windows Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

43.11.1 Colour Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

43.11.2 Big Text Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

43.11.3 Icon Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

43.11.4 Col Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

43.11.5 Playback Col Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

43.11.6 Speed Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

43.11.7 Attribute Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

43.11.8 Column Sizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

43.11.9 Units of measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

43.11.10Auto Row Ordering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

43.11.11Screen 1 fixed number of boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

43.11.12Screen 2 fixed number of boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

43.11.13Confirmation requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

43.11.14Scroll bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

43.11.15Layout buttons always active . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

43.11.16Start mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

43.11.17Always show Record Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

43.11.18Force Window on External Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

43.11.19Plan Intensity type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

43.11.20Message Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

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43.12Cue Storage Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

43.12.1 Delete Cues when delete Cue Stacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

43.12.2 Delete Cue Stacks on remove Playbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

43.12.3 Use first free Cues, Stacks, Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

43.12.4 Copy mode (linked/unlinked) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

43.12.5 Derive settings from previous Cue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

43.12.6 Hide Cue Store Ids (Qids) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

43.12.7 Hide Vdims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

43.12.8 Expand palettes to same head type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

43.12.9 Heads moved aside are unpatched . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

43.12.10Default mark/move when dark time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

43.13Playback Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

43.13.1 Grand Master function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

43.13.2 Sub Master function. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356

43.13.3 Crossfade Master function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356

43.14Crossfade button function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356

43.14.1 Split Crossfade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357

43.14.2 Crossfade controls Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357

43.14.3 DBO function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357

43.14.4 Stomp Playbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

43.14.5 Intensity (HTP) FX can subtract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

43.14.6 Go reasserts channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

43.14.7 Fader off zero reasserts channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

43.14.8 Next Page changes to next used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

43.14.9 Current Playback follows last touched . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

43.14.10Playbacks S + GO = PAUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

43.14.11Tap to Time buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359

43.14.12Int Master applies to LTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359

43.14.13Activate playbacks on start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359

43.14.14Run in Execute Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359

43.15Network Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

43.15.1 IP Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

43.15.2 Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

43.15.3 Send to applications on this PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

43.15.4 Ethernet remote protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

43.15.5 Playback Sync Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

43.15.6 Web Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

43.15.7 Web Server Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

43.15.8 Gateway address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

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43.15.9 Control net IP address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

43.15.10Control net subnet mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

43.15.11Wireless Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

43.15.12Wireless IP address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

43.15.13Wireless subnet mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

43.15.14Wireless channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

43.15.15Wireless SSID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

43.15.16Wireless encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

43.15.17Wireless key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

43.15.18OSC Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

43.15.19OSC Transmit Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

43.15.20OSC Receive Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

43.15.21OSC IP address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

43.15.22SACN Transmit Priority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

43.15.23Remote tracker protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

43.16Port Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

43.16.1 MagicQ Wings and Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

43.16.2 MagicDMX mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

43.16.3 Serial COM port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

43.16.4 Serial baud rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

43.16.5 Serial parity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

43.16.6 Serial data bits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

43.16.7 Serial stop bits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

43.16.8 Serial remote protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

43.16.9 Serial touch monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

43.16.10Remote trigger type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

43.16.11Remote trigger action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

43.16.12Audio input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

43.16.13Audio Min / Max Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

43.16.14Parallel Port Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

43.16.15Monitor Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

43.17MIDI / Timecode Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

43.17.1 Timecode frame type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

43.17.2 Timecode continue frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

43.17.3 Timecode jump detect frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

43.17.4 Timecode decode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

43.17.5 Timecode generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

43.17.6 Timecode backwards jumps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

43.17.7 MIDI In Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

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43.17.8 MIDI In Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

43.17.9 MIDI Out Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

43.17.10Midi Out Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

43.17.11MIDI Show Control Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

43.18Multiple Console Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

43.18.1 Enable remote access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

43.18.2 Enable remote control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

43.18.3 Net Session Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

43.18.4 Net Session ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

43.18.5 Hot Takeover Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

43.18.6 Hot Takeover Detect Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

43.18.7 Hot Takeover Fade Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

43.18.8 Hot Takeover Fade Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

43.18.9 Playback Sync Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

43.18.10Playback Sync IP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

43.18.11Playback Sync Slave Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

43.18.12Show data Sync Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

43.18.13Show data Sync IP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369

43.19Hardware Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369

43.19.1 Level above 0 to activate LTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369

43.19.2 Hysteresis on fader / encoder moves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369

43.19.3 Encoder Damping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369

43.19.4 Touch Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369

43.19.5 Encoders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369

43.19.6 Faulty Faders Mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369

43.19.7 Power Fail Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369

43.19.8 Screen Save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370

43.19.9 Reduced rate output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370

43.19.10Movie Buffer frames (0=use default) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370

43.19.11Debug Mode (Must be 0) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370

43.19.12Standard Logging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370

43.19.13Extended Logging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370

43.20General Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

43.20.1 Splash screen image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

43.21Individual Playback Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

43.22Calibrating the touch screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

43.23Displays brightness and contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

43.24Console lamp brightness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

43.25Button LED brightness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

43.26Controlling console lamp from the programmed show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

43.27Locking the console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

43.28Button test mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

MagicQ User Manual xxxi

44 System Management 373

44.1 Starting Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

44.2 Shutting Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

44.3 Saving Shows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

44.3.1 Show file name auto increment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374

44.4 Backing up to an external system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374

44.5 Loading Shows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374

44.6 Erasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375

44.7 Icon Snapshots / Extras file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375

44.8 Import and Export of Show Data and Show Merging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375

44.8.1 Exporting Shows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

44.8.2 Merging / Importing Shows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

44.8.3 Advanced Merging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

44.8.4 Merging in part of another show file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

44.8.5 Merging different versions of the same show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

44.8.6 Importing Cues from a different version of the same show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

44.8.7 USITT ASCII file import . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

44.9 Saving and Loading Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

44.10File Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

44.11Transferring files over network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378

44.12Storage of MagicQ user files on PC/Mac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378

44.13Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378

44.14Status Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378

44.15Backup Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

44.16Using shows on different MagicQ products and show versions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

44.16.1 Loading a show onto a smaller console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

44.16.2 Configuring number of Universes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380

44.17MagicQ Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380

44.18User management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380

44.18.1 User Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381

44.18.2 User Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381

44.18.3 Access to console channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381

45 Software Upgrade 382

45.1 Changing MagicQ Console Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382

45.1.1 Pro series (MQ100, MQ200, MQ300, MQ200 Execute, MQ300 Execute) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382

45.2 Pro Series Upgrading Console Kernel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

45.2.1 Kernel Install . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

45.2.2 Kernel Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384

MagicQ User Manual xxxii

45.2.3 Recovering "No more processes left in this runlevel" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385

45.3 Disc Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385

45.3.1 Console Command Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

45.4 Resetting a MagicQ console to factory defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

45.5 Upgrading MQ50, MQ70, MQ80 and MQ500 Midi Card firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387

45.6 Upgrading MQ500 Stadium firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

45.7 Upgrading Pro 2014 DMX card firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

45.8 Upgrading original Compact series MQ40/MQ40N/MQ60/MQ70 firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

46 Handy Hints 391

47 MagicQ Short Cuts 392

48 Troubleshooting 399

48.1 No outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

48.2 MagicQ not responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

48.3 MagicQ responding slowly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400

48.4 Strange key presses, unexpected window changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400

48.5 MagicQ console not booting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400

48.6 MQ80 console blank screen and not booting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400

48.7 MagicQ console blank screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

48.8 MagicQ console white screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

48.9 MagicQ console distorted screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

48.10MagicQ console internal touch screen not working . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

48.11All 10 S buttons flashing blue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

48.12Fader, Encoder or Button not working correctly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402

48.13Unable to save shows or patch fixtures after performing a *777 erase all on the console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402

48.14"MagicQ needs to write to the install folder. .. " message on Mac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402

49 Button Functions 404

50 Licensing 414

50.1 Qt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414

50.2 LibPNG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423

50.3 LibJPEG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426

50.4 LibJPEG-Turbo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427

50.5 LibICU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428

50.6 FFmpeg Binary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435

50.7 FFmpeg Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441

50.8 LibArchive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450

50.9 Zlib . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450

51 Glossary 452

MagicQ User Manual xxxiii

This manual is designed for operators of the MagicQ to help them quickly and effectively learn how to use the system. It has
been written by lighting designers for lighting designers. The reader is assumed to have a basic familiarity with the concepts of
lights and lighting control systems.

The manual starts with an introduction to the MagicQ lighting console its features, functions and concepts. It then moves into
detailed descriptions of patching, programming and playback.

Readers who are tight for time and just want to find out how to quickly program a working show should read the Quick Start
guide.

ChamSys Ltd

The features and functions of the MagicQ software and consoles and the ideas contained therein are the property of ChamSys
Ltd. The console is intended for the control of lighting systems. No warranties are expressed or implied regarding the use of
the MagicQ software of lighting consoles. No liabilities are accepted for the accuracy of the information contained within this
manual.

MagicQ software and MagicQ lighting console products are supplied, designed and manufactured by ChamSys Ltd.

Products containing ChamSys Ltd software and firmware embody proprietary information and are licensed not sold and may not
be duplicated in any way.

ChamSys Ltd does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, suitability or completeness of any information or products and is not
responsible for any errors or omissions or the results obtained from use of such information or products.

ChamSys Ltd does not accept responsibility for the consequences of misuse or abuse of its equipment. The equipment is designed
to meet all current regulation requirements in the UK for electrical products.

None of the equipment or software supplied by ChamSys Ltd may be used in any life-critical or potentially life-endangering
situations or in situations where personal injury may result.

ChamSys Ltd reserves the right to make any changes and/or improvements or to discontinue any and all of their product’s or
service’s without prior notice, and advises customers to obtain the latest version of relevant information to verify, before placing
orders, that information being relied on is current and complete. All products are sold subject to the terms and conditions of sale
supplied at the time of order acknowledgement, including those pertaining to warranty, patent infringement, and limitation of
liability. Some of the available functions of products may be altered over the life of the product.

The ChamSys Ltd range of products meet EU directives where applicable, for example the EMC and LVD directives, as laid
down by the European Community and ChamSys Ltd has a policy of regularly testing samples to ensure that production units
continue to meet these specifications.

ChamSys Ltd will not accept goods back for repair if the serial number sticker is removed or defaced so that it is illegible. This
also applies to warranty repairs. See terms and conditions of sale for full details.

All other product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated
into any language in any form by any means without the prior written permission of ChamSys Ltd.

Copyright 2014 by ChamSys Ltd. All rights reserved.

www.chamsys.co.uk

MagicQ User Manual 1 / 455

Chapter 1

Introduction

MagicQ supports an extensive array of features to enable lighting designers to quickly and easily realise their innovative and
imaginative designs.

• Two hundred universes (102400 channels)

• Up to 202 playbacks

• DMX512, Art-Net I, II and III, Pathport, ACN and many 3rdparty DMX dongles

• Extensive personality library

• In-built personality editor

• In-built Pixel Mapping

• Advanced Media Server control

• Colour mixing library including Lee and Rosco colours

• Flexible control of both heads and generic lighting

• Cloning and Morphing of heads

• Thousands of cues and cue stacks

• Naming of all items

• Virtually unlimited internal show storage & show merging

• FX generator with extensive FX library

• Immediate control of any chase / FX parameter

• Fully featured and enabled PC/Mac version

• Comprehensive multi console networking

• Remote control via consoles, tablets, and phone applications

• Export and import of patch data to spreadsheets / databases

• DMX input, over-riding, merging and testing option

MagicQ has been designed to be as flexible as possible so that it can be used equally well for pre-programmed shows / tours or
for busking festivals. All parameters can be changed during run at the touch of a button.

Ease of use and speed of programming have been at the forefront of the design process ensuring patching and programming a
show in the minimum amount of time without complex button sequences and multi level menus.

The first few chapters of this guide describe an overview of MagicQ including scenes, chases, fx and playbacks. If you wish to
go straight into programming a show then turn to the Quick Start section.

MagicQ User Manual 2 / 455

1.1 MagicQ software and consoles

MagicQ software runs on PCs, Macs and MagicQ consoles and has the same features and user interface on all systems.

MagicQ software enables shows to be pre-programmed on a PC (Windows, Mac or Linux) enabling Lighting Designers to design
and program their shows in advance. Shows can be transferred between PC, Mac and MagicQ consoles using USB memory sticks,
or via direct network connection.

MagicQ PC / Mac supports the same functionality and user interface as the physical consoles making it easy to move between the
two products. MagicQ PC / Mac can also be used to run complete shows, either as a back-up to the main console or as console
in its own right.

MagicQ consoles are available in several different models all using the powerful MagicQ software on a Linux operating system
giving a reliable operating environment for programming and playback of shows. A show can be programmed on one model and
then played back on a different model.

MagicQ supports 202 playbacks in total – which can be be accessed through physical playbacks or through the touch screen.
The different models in the MagicQ console series have different numbers of physical playbacks and buttons, enabling the size
of console to be matched to the show.

Connecting MagicQ USB Wings to MagicQ PC / Mac gives the playback and programming control of the MagicQ consoles
(faders, encoders and buttons) but with a small low cost lightweight solution.

DMX512 serial outputs are available from MagicQ software on PC/Mac using the MagicDMX interface, directly from all MagicQ
consoles and from the Mini Wing, PC Wing and Maxi Wing.

MagicQ supports Art-Net I,II,III and IV, Pathport and streaming ACN network outputs from PC, Mac or MagicQ consoles.
MagicQ consoles have multiple network ports for connecting to Art-Net, Pathport and sACN installations.

1.2 MagicQ MQ500 Stadium Console

The MagicQ MQ500 Stadium is the latest control console from ChamSys designed to operate at the highest level of show control.
MagicQ MQ500 Stadium enables shows to be designed from concept to reality including lighting, media, LED and scenic design.

MQ500 Key Features:

• Dual multi touch displays in full HD with adjustable viewing angle and gesture support.

• inbuilt MagicVis 3D visualiser with high quality beam and gobo rendering.

• 200 universes onboard direct from the console without the need for external processing. MagicHD media server runs on board
enabling pixelmapping to all 200 universes.

• Intensity wheel and 100mm split crossfaders for theatre control, and incorporates 42 fader and executor playbacks for live
busking.

MagicQ User Manual 3 / 455

The picture below shows the connections on the MagicQ MQ500 Stadium console.

The MQ500 rear panel has:

• 4 port Network swtich

• 4 Direct DMX ports

• LTC In and Out

• Midi In and Out

• Remote input

• RS232 Port

• DVI-D monitor output

• Audio Input

• 3 x USB ports

1.3 MagicQ Compact Series

MagicQ User Manual 4 / 455

In 2020 the MagicQ Compact series comprises the MagicQ MQ50, MagicQ MQ70, and MagicQ MQ80 consoles together with
the MagicQ Extra Wing for more faders and buttons.

Previous models included the MQ40, MQ60 and the original MQ70.

1.4 MagicQ Wings for use with PC/Mac

The MagicQ Mini Wing, MagicQ PC Wing and MagicQ Maxi Wing connect directly to a PC or Mac. The PC or Mac runs the
MagicQ software and processes the Cues whilst the wing acts as a physical surface with faders, buttons and encoders and outputs
DMX.

1.5 Plugging Up

All MagicQ consoles and SnakeSys interfaces have auto ranging power supplies and can accept 110V to 240V AC on the blue
powercon socket.

• Connect the power lead to the power socket labelled LINE INPUT.

• Put the console lamp(s) into the console lamp socket(s)

MagicQ consoles support USB keyboards and mice. It is not necessary to connect the mouse. The mouse is only required if the
touch screen becomes damaged.

Note that the power cable lead should be connected before other connectors and should remain connected at all time that other
connections such as DMX, network, serial, USB or video are connected to the console. This ensures that the console is correctly
grounded.

1.6 DMX Connections

MagicQ consoles have 4 direct DMX outputs on the rear of the panel so you can connect your DMX cables direct to the console.

Alternatively you can connect to an Ethernet network using the Art-Net, Pathport or ACN Streaming DMX protocols and use
external Ethernet to DMX converters to output the DMX.

The network ports on MagicQ consoles all have auto MDI/MDIX detection so a normal or inverted network cable can be used to
connect to other network devices. Most modern laptops and computers also have auto MDI/MDIX detection.

ChamSys offer a range of Ethernet to DMX convertors branded SnakeSys. These can be used to convert any of the 200 Art-Net or
ACN Streaming DMX universes to be output on DMX512 serial. For systems requiring all 200 universes on DMX512, multiple
interfaces may be used connected via network switches.

1.7 Powering Up

To power up the console press the power switch on the rear panel. The blue LEDs on the ten S buttons will light up in turn. After
a few seconds the screen will come to life and you will see the operating system quickly performing self tests. Once the self tests
are completed the MagicQ application is started.

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1.8 Powering Down

To power down the console it is necessary to quit the MagicQ application. The console operating system then performs an
automatic shutdown and turns itself off when complete. To quit the MagicQ application, press the SETUP button and then the
QUIT soft button. When asked for confirmation, press YES.

Note that just removing the power cord to the console will not have the desired effect since the internal UPS continues to provide
power.

If for some reason you are unable to power off the console then you may need to reset it as below.

Note that the power cable should remain connected at all time that other connections such as DMX, network, serial, USB or video
are connected to the console. This ensures that the console is correctly grounded. The power cable should be the last connection
removed.

On MQ500 it is possible to press the rear power button to power off the console.

1.9 Resetting the Console

Under rare circumstance it may be necessary to reset the console.

To reset the console, press SETUP to go to the Setup Window and press SHIFT and QUIT. This performs an immediate soft reset
of the console - the MagicQ application will be running the show again within about 2-3 seconds.

If for some reason the console does not respond to button presses then try pressing CTRL BREAK on the external keyboard (hold
CTRL whilst pressing BREAK).

1.10 Hard Reset

If s software reset has no effect then a hard reset may be required. Hard resets should be avoided as they bypass the operating
system shutdown procedures and may cause problems with the file system.

To perform a hard reset, press and hold the reset button on the back panel for 5 seconds. On Compact consoles the reset button
is inset, so a thin object like a pen is needed to operate the button.

To force the console to power off completely, press and hold the reset button on the back panel until it powers off (approximately
10 seconds.)

To force a MQ80 to power off, remove all the cables from the rear panel except the powercon connector. Then remove the
powercon connector and then hold the reset button for 10 seconds. For safety reasons the powercon cable should be the last cable
removed.

1.11 Power Supply Protection

MagicQ MQ60, MQ70, MQ80, MQ100, MQ200, MQ300 and MQ500 consoles have an internal battery designed to protect
the system against short term power losses on troublesome power supplies. The internal battery is not designed to support the
running of the console for long periods of time. If the power is lost then the console will prompt the user to fix the problem or to
shut down the console. The battery when fully charged will support the console for between 5 and 15 minutes.

To maintain the life of the UPS battery, the console should be run for a period of at least 12 hours constantly every 2 months to
ensure the battery remains fully charged at all. Note that the cosole needs to be powered on and running MagicQ for the battery
to charge.

If your version of the console does not have an internal battery then we recommend the use of a UPS (Un-interruptible Power
Supply).

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1.12 Care of your MagicQ console

• To keep your MagicQ console in best condition please observe the following recommendations:

• Keep liquids away from the MagicQ. Drinks split over your console may cause irreparable damage.

• Keep the console out of direct sunlight – place the console in the shade.

• Do not use the console outside its operating temperature range.

• Handle the console with care when moving or transporting it. The console contains components that may be damaged by
shock. Always use a padded flight case or padded bag wherever possible.

• Do not use solvents or cleansers to clean the console. Do not rub firmly on the metal or plastic surfaces – this may cause the
paint or lettering to be removed. Gently use a damp cloth to clean the panels.

1.13 Safety Information

• Do not open the front, rear or lower panels of the console unless you have electrical expertise. The console contains components
with voltages that may shock.

• Always disconnect the power cable before opening any panels.

• Do not use the console if the power cables are damaged in any way.

• Repairs should only be undertaken by authorised service representatives.

• If liquids are spilt over the console then remove power immediately, and seek advice from your authorised service representa­tive.

1.14 Disposal Information

Please be aware that ChamSys products must be disposed of in accordance with the WEEE disposal and recycling regulations.
ChamSys products must not be disposed of through normal household waste. For non UK customers please contact your local
distributor. For UK customers, please contact us on [phone], or email [e-mail].

WEEE Producer registration number WEE/FF5605UX.

MagicQ User Manual 7 / 455

Chapter 2

Installing MagicQ Software & Drivers

2.1 MagicQ software

MagicQ software runs on PCs and Macs and can be downloaded free from the ChamSys web site www.chamsys.co.uk/download.

2.2 MagicDMX

MagicDMX devices do NOT need any additional drivers – they use HID drivers within the operating system. Simply plug in the
device and start MagicQ.

To confirm that the MagicDMX is operating correctly go to Setup, View System, View status, Interfaces. The MagicDMX Status
should say "Connected" and "DMX out".

MagicDMX is enabled as DMX output by default. It can be disable/enabled from Setup, View Setings, Ports, MagicDMX.

When first plugged in the MagicDMX alternates green and orange LEDs every second. When MagicQ is started and connects to
the device then the green LED is on permanently and the orange flashes faster as it receives data from MagicQ.

When using MagicDMX Basic and MagicDMX Full interfaces demo mode will continue to be shown at the top of the MagicQ
window. This does not affect the programming of MagicQ or restrict the output if you have a MagicDMX Full interface. Demo
mode does restrict some advanced MagicQ functions which are unlocked with MagicQ hardware (Not MagicDMX).

2.3 MagicQ Wings & Interfaces

MagicQ Wings (Mini wing, PC Wing, Maxi Wing, Extra Wing, Playback Wing, Execute Wing) and MagicQ DMX interfaces
(Dual DMX, Audio, MIDI/SMPTE) use a USB chipset made by FTDI which requires the installation of the correct drivers.

After the drivers have been installed then MagicQ can be started and the Wing/Interface should be detected. Ensure the setting
“Setup, View Settings, Ports, MagicQ Wings & Interfaces” is set to “Yes (auto DMX)”

Note that the drivers for MagicQ Wings and MagicQ DMX interfaces ARE NOT applicable to MagicDMX Basic or MagicDMX
Full. Do not attempt to install drivers for MagicDMX.

2.4 MagicQ on Windows

MagicQ supports Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10.

MagicDMX devices do not need any drivers - see Section 2.2.

MagicQ User Manual 8 / 455

To use MagicQ Wings and MagicQ Interfaces on Windows the FTDI drivers must be installed manually as Windows is not able
to detect the products correctly. The drivers are included in the MagicQ installation folder

C:\ProgramFiles\ChamSys Ltd\Magicq\MagicQ Wing Drivers. On 64 bit systems MagicQ is installed in Program Files (x86)
instead of Program Files.

Disconnect all MagicQ Wings and Interfaces except the one you are trying to install the driver for.

Open Device Manager. This is found in different places depending on the version of Windows, but it can normally be accessed
by opening Control Panel and then selecting System, and then selecting Device Manager.

MagicQ User Manual 9 / 455

Device Manager lists all the devices on your system. The MagicQ device is normally listed at the bottom under Universal Serial
Bus Controllers but it may be under any other section. It may be listed as a ChamSys or MagicQ device or just as a FTDI device.
If you can not find it then try disconnecting and reconnecting the USB cable to the device - the listing should update and indicate
to you which device is being plugged/unplugged.

MagicQ User Manual 10 / 455

MagicQ User Manual 11 / 455

When you have identified the device then right click and press Update Driver.

Select "Browse My Computer for Driver Software (Locate and Install Driver Software Manually)". Do not let Windows search
for a driver.

Select the option "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer".

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Select "Have Disk". If you cannot find "Have Disk" then click on items in the list until you get it.

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For PC Wing Compacts the drivers are in c:\Program Files\ChamSys Ltd\Magicq\MagicQ Wing Drivers\PC Wing Compact\CDM

2.08.24 WHQL Certified\ftdibus.inf

PC Wing Compacts require MagicQ software version 1.5.8.0 or above.

MagicQ User Manual 14 / 455

For all other products the drivers are in c:\Program Files\ChamSys Ltd\Magicq\MagicQ Wing Drivers\FTDI\chamsys.inf

If the MagicQ USB wing periodically disconnects and restarts then check the Windows settings for your USB ports - Windows
may be shutting down the USB ports when it incorrectly thinks they are idle. Click on Control Panel, System, Device Manager

MagicQ User Manual 15 / 455

and scroll to the bottom to get a list of the USB devices. For each USB Root Hub click on Properties, Power Management and
make sure that the option "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" is NOT selected.

On some Windows systems the Update Drivers dialog will not show the driver files even though they are correctly in the MagicQ
Wing Drivers folder. In this case try copying the whole MagicQ Wing Drivers folder to the desktop (using Windows Explorer)
and then try to update the drivers again.

2.4.1 User permissions on Windows

Note that Vista, Windows 7, 8 and 10 has User Authentication which may cause your show / head files to be stored in
c:\users\username\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\ChamSys Ltd\MagicQ PC\show instead of c:\Program Files\ChamSys
Ltd\MagicQ PC\show.

If MagicQ does not store settings after a restart - it forgets the number of universes, IP address or DMX I/O settings - then this is
likely caused by Windows restricting write access to the folders where MagicQ stores this data. Check permissions and try to run
MagicQ as administrator. To Run MagicQ as an administrator on Windows, right click on the MagicQ desktop icon and select
run as administrator from the options menu.

Windows controls the level of access to system folders through the User Account Control Settings. This can be found in Control
Panel, User Accounts, Change User Account Control settings. Setting this to "Never Notify" will make Windows less restrictive.
Note that for security reasons this is only recommended for stand alone systems dedicated to MagicQ which are not connected
to the internet - please make sure you understand the implications for your computer, before changing this setting.

2.5 MagicQ on Mac

MagicQ Support macOS 10.11, 10.12 and 10.13.

macOS includes all the required drivers for MagicQ wings and interfaces and no action should be required to install them.

MagicQ wings and interfaces must be powered up and connected to the Mac before MagicQ is started.

2.5.1 OSX 10.11 El Capitan or later

In 10.11 El Capitan, Apple have forced the use of their Apple FTDI Driver rather than the manufacturer provided driver - the
option to Disable the Apple FTDI Drivers in the MagicQ Tools Menu will not work as Apple have blocked it.

In MagicQ version 1.7.0.2 we have modified MagicQ to enable MagicQ PC Wing Compact and MagicQ Extra Wing Compact
to use the Apple inbuilt FTDI (VCP) Drivers. If you are only trying to connect a MagicQ PC Wing Compact or a MagicQ Extra
Wing Compact, then check that the option Setup, View Settings, Ports, MagicQ Wings & Interfaces is set to "Yes, auto DMX".

Due to problems with the Apple FTDI Driver, when MagicQ version 1.7.0.2 is run on OSX 10.11 then by default it does not
have support enabled for older MagicQ Wings such as MagicQ Mini Wing, Maxi Wing, old PC Wing, old Extra Wing, Playback
Wing, Extra Wing and 3rd party devices such as Enttec Pro.

To use these interfaces with v1.7.0.2 on OSX 10.11, set the option Setup, View Settings, Ports, MagicQ Wings & Interfaces to
"FTDI + VCP driver, auto DMX". When this option is enabled, MagicQ will take about a minute to start up and look for wings
even if there are none present - during this time the system will be blocked. We are working with FTDI to try to find a work
around to this problem.

2.5.2 Turning off App Nap

On all versions we recommend you disable Computer sleep and turn off App Nap to avoid MagicQ being shut down inadvertently.

• Quit MagicQ

• From the OSX Finder, navigate to the /Applications/MagicQ folder

• Select MagicQ.app, then go to the “File” menu and select “Get Info” (or select the app and hit Command+i)

MagicQ User Manual 16 / 455

• Check the box for “Prevent App Nap”, found under the General section of Get Info

2.5.3 Making the MagicQ folder writeable

If you get the message "Cannot write file" when trying to save a show file, or your settings changes are not saved then check that
the MagicQ folder and all its subfolders have both read and write permission.

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If you get a message starting with "MagicQ needs to write to the install folder. . . ", you will need to check the permisions of the
"MagicQ" folder. There are detailed steps in the troubleshooting chapter.

2.6 MagicQ on Linux

MagicQ can be installed on Ubuntu 14.04, 16.04 and 18.04 64 bit.

We cannot provide support for Linux specific issues; the best place to ask questions is on community forums and social media
websites.

Using MagicQ wings and interfaces requires the ftdi_sio kernel driver which is included as standard on most Linux distributions.

You can download MagicQ for Linux from the bugtracker.

Important

MagicQ for Linux is only available for 64 bit AMD/Intel systems. We no longer provide downloads for 32 bit Linux from
version 1.8.0.3. MagicQ will not run on other architectures (e.g. ARM).

2.6.1 Installing

To install the downloaded .deb file, run the following command in a terminal:

sudo dpkg -i magicq_ubuntu_vx_x_x_x.deb

Replacing the filename above the the name of the downloaded file.

2.6.2 High DPI screens

Automatic scaling for high resolution screens is disabled by default as with some screens it made the MagicQ user interface too
big.

From version 1.8.0.4 you can create a file called .magicq_init.sh in your home directory (/home/USERNAME/.magic

q_init.sh) and make sure it has executeble permissions.

# ~/.magicq_init.sh

# Uncomment the following line if you want MagicQ to try to scale automatically
#export QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR=1

# Uncomment and adjust the following line if you want to manually decide how to ←-

scale MagicQ
# You can specify a fractional number (e.g. specify 1.5 to make it 50% bigger)
#export QT_SCALE_FACTOR=1.0

# If you have multiple screens that need different scaling, uncomment and set the ←-

following
# line to a semicolon-separated list of scale factors
#export QT_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTORS=1.5;1.0

See http://doc.qt.io/qt-5/highdpi.html for more information on the environment variables in this file.

MagicQ User Manual 18 / 455

Chapter 3

Using MagicQ on PCs and Macs

The MagicQ software for PCs and Macs has exactly the same features as the MagicQ console software with support for 64
Universes. All 64 Universes are enabled and can be used. A wide range of 3rdparty USB interfaces are supported on Universe 1.

When MagicQ PC or Mac is installed for the first time, it will show a window with choices of demo shows.

This window can be hidden on subsequent starts by pressing the "Hide Options Next Time" button. It can be reactivated by
setting the Setup, View Settings, Windows, Start Mode option to "Choose Demo show".

3.1 Simple Generic Console

Choosing Simple Generic Console opens MagicQ in Simple View and loads a Simple 48 Channel Generic Console show file.

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In this mode the console simply operates as a 48 channel traditional theatre console with 48 dimmers patched on Universe 1 at
channels 1 through 48.

If a MagicQ Wing, MagicQ Dual DMX Interface or MagicDMX interface is connected to MagicQ then the 48 channels will be
automatically output on the 1stoutput.

There are 10 Playback Faders labelled PB1 to PB10. Depending on your screen resolution you may have a S, > and || button for
each fader. Pressing in the box labelled PB1 to PB10 is the same as pressing the appropriate S button.

To record a Cue set the faders as required. Then press REC and press the S button of the Playback fader you wish to record it to.

Press CLEAR to clear the Programmer and retrun the faders to their defaults.

To record a chase, record multiple Cues to a Playback fader simply record more than one cue to a Playback fader.

To remove the Cues from a fader press REM and press the S button of the Playback fader you wish to remove Cues from.

To name a fader press SET and press the S button of the Playback fader you wish to name. You will be shown a text entry box.
Type the name followed by RETURN.

Multiple pages of faders are supported through the Next Page / Previous Page buttons.

It is possible to interchange between the Normal and Simple views of the console by pressing the Norm and Simple buttons in
the top right corner of the Application.

3.2 Technician Test Fixture

The Technician Test Fixture mode enables technicians to test a moving light or other fixture in a very simple way. Simply press
the TEST SHOW soft button and select a fixture and a mode.

A new show will be created using that fixture patched at DMX address 1 on the first Universe. The 48 faders show up to 48
channels of the fixture. Each fader is named with the attribute name and the values are set to their default values.

MagicQ User Manual 20 / 455

The picture below shows a Clay Paky Alpha Spot HPE 1200 in Standard mode.

The Playback faders are automatically set up with some useful functions including Macros for Lamp On, Reset and Lamp Off,
Locate and Movement, Colour, Gobo and Strobe tests.

If a MagicQ Wing, MagicQ Twin DMX Interface or MagicDMX interface is connected to MagicQ then the fixture will be
controlled on the 1stoutput.

The preset faders can be used to change the values of individual attributes. Use SHIFT and the faders to make a fine adjustment.

3.3 Demo Shows

The start up Window gives also gives a choice of a standard Lighting demo show or a PixelMapping demo show.

Additional demo shows for other fixture types, media servers and visualisers can be found by going to Setup, View Settings,
Load Show and selecting the demo show folder.

MagicQ User Manual 21 / 455

3.4 Touch View

The Touch View is designed for use with touch screens with buttons that are sized bigger so that it is easier to select functions.
Select Touch View by pressing Touch or Touch2 in the top right corner of the Application.

3.5 Playback mode

MagicQ PC supports a Playback Mode which enables MagicQ to be run in a pure “Playback” mode. This mode is selected by
clicking on the new Playback mode Icon on the desktop or in the Programs, ChamSys MagicQ PC menu.

Playback mode is only supported when connected to a MagicQ Wing or MagicQ USB interface. The MagicQ interface must be
connected and powered on before MagicQ is started in Playback mode. Note Playback mode is not supported with MagicDMX
or 3rd Party interfaces.

In Playback mode MagicQ it is not possible to record or make changes to the show data. MagicQ will not save the show files /
status files. Changes (e.g. change of chase speed) will be lost when the application is stopped and restarted.

Playback Mode shows a much reduced set of buttons on the screen – only buttons required for show playback are shown.

In Playback Mode only pages of playbacks that have been programmed are shown – pressing NEXT PAGE will automatically
change to the next programmed page and will cycle around all programmed pages.

3.6 Copy and paste to external applications via the clipboard

MagicQ now supports copying and pasting to external applications such as Word, Excel and text editors.

On the toolbar select Edit, Copy or press the short cut key CTRL C. The item at the cursor position in the focused window, or
multiple items if cursor selection is active, will be copied to the Clipboard. In the external application CTRL V (or Paste) can be
used to paste the information.

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It is possible to quickly select all items in a window on the toolbar by selecting Edit, Select All or using the short cut CTRL A.

It is also possible to copy and paste into MagicQ from external applications. In the external application use CTRL C or Copy to
copy the required data to the Clipboard. In MagicQ change to the Window that you wish to paste to, cursor select the required
cells and on the toolbar select Edit, Paste or press CTRL V. The data will be pasted into the MagicQ window. MagicQ only
supports pasting of text data - typically names of items. When pasting to multiple selected cells MagicQ verifies that the quantity
of data on the Clipboard matches the number of selected cells.

Extreme care should be used when pasting into MagicQ.

3.7 MagicQ PC / Mac Restrictions

When MagicQ PC (Windows, Linux or Mac) is not connected to a MagicQ USB interface, MagicQ USB Wing or SnakeSys
network product, then a small number of remote and automation features are restricted and “Demo Mode” is shown in the title
bar. This does not affect show programming or playback.

The restricted features that require a MagicQ USB interface, MagicQ Wing or SnakeSys node to be connected are:

• Execute Window full screen

• Scheduled Events

• iOS / Android Remote

• Remote Control Protocol (serial, or network)

• Web Server editing (viewing is supported)

• Auto starting Playbacks

• Playback Synchronisation

• Multi Programming including Net Sessions

• Triggering of playbacks using DMX input

• Mouse control of pan/tilt (only supported when connected to a MagicQ Wing with encoders)

• Audio control and playback synchronisation with Winamp (this is supported when connected via network to a MagicQ console)

• Timecode receive from ArtNet

• Timecode from 3rd Party USB/Virtual interfaces.

• Audio input from PC/Mac sound card

Note that the MagicDMX interface (Basic or Full) does not lift these restrictions, as this is a low cost interface intended for
learning how to program the system.

Support for receiving MIDI notes from the generic USB MIDI interface on PC is only enabled when the system has the special
MagicQ Rack Mount Dongle connected - note this functionality is NOT supported when out of demo mode. You must use the
special MagicQ Rack Mount Dongle for Midi notes from 3rd party/virtual interfaces.

MagicQ PC/Mac running with the restricted features unlocked, supports control of the first 10 playbacks (PB1 to PB10) via
ChamSys remote control protocol, MIDI and automations. This enables synchronisation with show control systems. Playbacks
11 to 202 can only be controlled by MagicQ Playback/Execute/Extra Wings. On MagicQ consoles all 202 playbacks can be
controlled by these protocols.

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3.8 MagicHD Stand Alone Restriction

MagicHD when run as part of MagicQ supports 8 layers.

MagicHD when run as a stand alone program (not as part of MagicQ) only supports 1 layer unless a MagicQ / MagicHD USB
Dongle is fitted to the system, or is connected via network to a MagicQ console with encoders, or connected via network to a
MagicQ PC/MAC system with a connected MagicQ USB Wing with encoders.

SnakeSys products do not unlock stand alone MagicHD.

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Chapter 4

MagicQ Concepts

A system diagram of the console is shown in the diagram below

• Universe count ranges from 4 to 200 depending on console.

4.1 Show Storage

MagicQ stores show data in a single show file stored on the hard drive of the MagicQ console, PC or Mac. The show file contains
all the show settings, patch, palettes, cues and cue stack data. It also stores copies of all the personalities that are used within the
show.

A MagicQ show can be transferred between MagicQ consoles and MagicQ PC or Mac systems simply by copying the show file.
MagicQ show files are compatible across all MagicQ products. MagicQ maintains forward and backward compatibility for show
files - enabling users to load shows created on any version of MagicQ software into any other version fo MagicQ software.

Favourite shows, personalities, palettes and FX patterns can be imported into new shows to simplify and speed up show program­ming.

Show files can be copied using USB memory sticks or the network can be used to access the file system of MagicQ consoles.

When the user saves the show using the SAVE SHOW menu item or soft button MagicQ stores the show file with a .shw file
extension. At all other times MagicQ automatically backs up the show data whenever changes are made to a (.sbk) file.

4.2 Output channels

Depending on the console, MagicQ software supports up to 200 universes output over Ethernet.

This allows up to 1024,00 channels of lighting to be controlled. Ethernet to DMX Interfaces are used to convert from Ethernet to
serial DMX512 as required.

Lighting consoles are often limited in the number of DMX channels or the number of intelligent heads they can control indepen­dently. MagicQ allows control of all DMX channels individually, whilst utilising grouping and programming functions to enable
control of multiple heads or dimmers together.

MagicQ provides a library of over 28,000 personalities – data for each of the different types of intelligent head available. This
data determines how the different attributes of an intelligent head are controlled by the console.

MagicQ User Manual 25 / 455

ChamSys adds new personalities for fixtures as the information for new fixtures becomes available. If a personality is not
available then it can be requested from ChamSys. Users also have the ability to create the persoanlity themselves in the inbuilt
Head Editor.

4.2.1 HTP / LTP channels

The console supports two types of channels, highest takes precedence (HTP) and latest takes precedence (LTP). Generally HTP
channels are used for channels controlling dimmers and for the dimmer channel of intelligent heads. LTP channels are used for
the attributes of intelligent heads such as pan, tilt, colour, gobo etc.. .

For HTP channels the value that is output is the highest value of that channel on all of the active playbacks and the programmer.
The console can be configured so that if a HTP channel is in the programmer it always overrides any active playbacks.

For LTP channels the value output is the value from the last active playback unless that channel is active in the programmer in
which case the value output is the value stored in the programmer.

The last active playback is the last playback to be raised above zero, which is still above zero. Playbacks that are bumped in
using ADD or SWAP buttons automatically become the last active playback until the button is released.

The type of channel used by the console is determined by the personality used to patch the dimmer or intelligent head.

Playbacks can be set so that all channels controlled by the Playback act in a LTP way, thus allowing Intensity channels to be
overridden by a single Playback.

4.3 Cues

The console stores lighting states as Cues – each Cue stores

• Level information

• Timing information

• FX information

The Cue stores level information for each of the channels recorded into it. If the channel level was set using a Palette, then a
reference to the Palette is also stored so that the Cue can keep track of changes to the Palette.

The Cue stores timing information for the channels that have been recorded into it. Two types of timing information are stored:

General Times:

Stored for each type of attribute (Int In, Int Out, Position, Colour, Beam)

Individual Times:

Stored on an individual channel basis

The Cue stores FX information for each of the FX that has been recorded into the Cue. The FX information includes the type of
FX, the heads that the FX is applied to, and the FX parameters for each head.

Each Cue has a number (e.g. Q1) and an optional name.

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4.4 Cue Stacks

Cue Stacks are used to manage sequences of Cues. Cue Stacks keep track of the order of the Cues and the options for how they
are played back. A Cue Stack may have only one Cue associated with it or may have a whole list of Cues.

The Cue Stack stores a Cue Id and a textual field for each Cue so that the different steps in the stack can be labelled. The Cue Id
and textual field are shown on the playback display when the stack is played back which enables operators to keep track of the
current position in the show.

Cue Stacks can be configured to run as a chase rather than as a simple list of Cues. The difference is that as a chase each the
timing of cue is determined by the chase speed and chase contrast rather than by the individual delay and fade times for each cue.

Each Cue Stack has a number (e.g. CS1) and an optional name.

4.5 Playbacks

The console enables playing of recorded show data through Playbacks. Playbacks are associated with physical faders and buttons
– each Playback can have one cue stack assigned to it.

The console supports 202 Playback; 10 main Playbacks situated below the touch screen and up to 8 extension wings each with
24 Playbacks.

On models where less than 8 wings are fitted, the not fitted playbacks can be utilised through the touch screen and associated
buttons.

4.6 Pages

The console supports multiple pages of Playbacks enabling Playback faders to have different functions depending on the current
page. Typically one page is used for each song in a show.

The current page is selected through the NEXT PAGE and PREV PAGE buttons on the main playback section or by selecting a
page in the Page Window.

The 24 Playbacks on each wing are divided up into two rows of 12 Playbacks. Each of the rows has separate NEXT PAGE and
PREV PAGE buttons. This enables the Page used by these Playbacks to be set differently to the main Playbacks.

This provides significant flexibility to how shows are played back – for example one section of a wing can be used to control par
lamps whilst another could be used to control intelligent heads. Changing the Page of the par lamps would not change the Page
of the heads.

4.7 FX

The console contains a powerful engine for creating special effects (FX). FX can be applied to a group of heads at the touch of a
button; there is no need to program lots of different Cues to create the effect. Special effects can be easily modified live, enabling,
for example, the speed and size of the FX to be modified to match the mood of the show.

The console supports an extensive library of standard FX such as circles, squares, pan and tilt saws, lifts, zig zags, etc. In addition
the console supports FX on colour, beam and intensity attributes. The console supports programming and storing of new custom
FX, which can then be re-used in shows as required. The FX engine enables complete shows to be programmed within a matter
of minutes.

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4.8 Window Layouts

The console provides a means of storing the positions and sizes of Windows as a Window layout to enable easy recall of useful
Windows. This allows, for example, a Window configuration consisting of the Group, Position, Colour and Beam Windows to
be stored and recalled at a button press.

The system supports several standard Layouts, including several oriented towards programming and several oriented towards
playback.

Window layouts are recalled by pressing CTRL and selecting one of the top soft buttons.

The three spare buttons in the Windows section default to Layout 1 (Palettes), Layout 2 and Layout 3.

On MQ500 there are 12 Layouts on the left side of the right hand display. Further layouts can be accessed by pressing CTRL.

4.9 Shift Functions

The MagicQ lighting console uses SHIFT and CTRL buttons to enable access to advanced features. There is a SHIFT button and
a CTRL button adjacent to the top corners of the touch screen in addition to the keys on the keyboard.

The SHIFT button is used with the cursor keys to enable selection of multiple items in Windows.

The ALT button is used on the Compact series (MQ40/60/70) to access alternative functions such as Page Up, Page Down and
the window sizing options.

4.10 The Programmer

All recording of show data is carried out using the Programmer. The Programmer takes priority over all playbacks, and channels.
It can also be used during live running to override the outputs – for example, for changing the colour or gobo of intelligent heads.

The Programmer can be considered to be a table of channel level and active flags for each of the channels patched onto the
console. Initially (and after the Programmer has been cleared) all the channel levels are set to zero and all the channels are
flagged as inactive. When a channel is changed to be non zero the channel level for that entry in the table is set to the new level
and the channel is flagged as active.

The console outputs any channels that are marked as active in the Programmer at highest priority – i.e. they over-ride all other
playbacks.

To clear the Programmer press CLEAR. All channels will be deactivated and all HTP channels will be set to zero. It is possible
to force all LTP channels to zero by using CTRL CLEAR.

The programmer can be set into a Blind mode using the BLIND button so that the contents of the programmer do not affect the
output of the console. This allows programming adjustments to be made during a live show and special effects to be “busked” in.

4.11 Help

The Help Window enables the operating manual to be viewed on-line. Press the HELP button at any time to open the Help
Window. To close the window, press the CLOSE button.

Use the scroll encoder, the cursor keys, and the hyperlinks to navigate through the manual. You can go directly to a particular
section using the top soft buttons, e.g. CONTENTS or QUICK START.

You can search through the manual by typing some text and pressing SEARCH. To search for the same words again, press
SEARCH AGAIN.

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Chapter 5

MagicQ Layout

5.1 Physical layout

All MagicQ consoles are very similar - they differ mainly in the number of playback faders. The programming interface is
consistent across the entire range of consoles. MagicQ software on PC and Mac mimics the layout of the physical buttons on
the MagicQ Consoles - a choice of different Panels is available from the Panel Menu. The Full Panel mode mimics Pro and
Compact whilst the Stadium Panem mode mimics the MQ500. It is possible to change between different panel views at any time

- it does not affect the programmed show - it just determines what buttons, faders and encoders are available for programming
and playback.

5.1.1 Touch Screen, Encoders & Soft Buttons

There are 24 buttons and 8 rotary encoders placed around the main touch screen.

The buttons are referred to as soft buttons since their function changes according to the active window on the touch screen. The
current function of a soft button is displayed on the touch screen adjacent to the button. To select the function you can either
press the screen or the soft button itself.

The function of the rotary encoders also changes according to the active window with the current function being displayed
adjacent to the encoder.

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There are ALT, SHIFT and CTRL buttons.

SHIFT is used for extra MagicQ programming functions.

CTRL is used for console settings such as setting screen brightness, console lamp brightness.

ALT is used to select alternative functions on MagicQ consoles that do not have a physical button for the particular function - the
ALT function of a button is normally labelled on the panel.

5.1.2 Main Windows

The area in the centre of the screen is the windows section in which the various control windows are displayed. There are two
main types of windows – boxes style windows which have large boxes such as the Group Window and spreadsheet style editing
windows such as the Patch Window.

A window is displayed by pressing the appropriate window button. On MagicQ PC/Mac the window can be selected from the
Window Menu from the toolbar. Changing window does not affect programming or playback.

Multiple windows can be displayed at one time by sizing and positioning the windows appropriately by clicking on the window
title bar or using the SIZE button. On MagicQ PC/Mac the size and position can also be selected from the View Menu from the
toolbar.

In addition a complete configuration of windows – i.e. a complete layout can be selected using the Layout buttons - to select the
Palettes layout (Groups, Positions, Colours and Beams) press the Layout 1 button.

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On the MQ500 the layout buttons are on the left side of the main touch screen. On Compact consoles there are physical Layout
1, Layout 2 and Layout 3 buttons by the keypad. On these consoles SHIFT + Layout 1 gets Layout 4, SHIFT + Layout 2 gets
Layout 5 and SHIFT + Layout 3 gets Layout 6.

When a window button is pressed, that window becomes the active window. The active window is on the top of the screen and is
easily identified as the window with the highlighted title bar at the top. It is also the window with the cursor in it.

An item in a window can be selected either

1. By pressing the touch screen over the appropriate part of the window

2. By moving the cursor to the appropriate position and pressing the ENTER button.

3. By moving the mouse to the position and pressing the left mouse button.

The cursor can be moved around the active window using the cursor keys in the Editor area of the console or via the cursor
keys on the keyboard. PG UP, PG DN, PG LEFT and PG RIGHT can be used to scroll the window in the appropriate direction.
HOME and END can be used to get to the start and end of the window respectively.

On Compact consoles some window buttons and cursor buttons are accessed using the ALT button. PG UP, PG DN, PG LEFT
and PG RIGHT use ALT and the cursor keys. HOME and END use ALT and LAYOUT 1 and LAYOUT 3 respectively.

On PC/Mac the contents of a Window can be printed to a printer or pdf file by selecting File, Print Window from the toolbar.

5.1.2.1 Window Sizing

From v1.4.8.0 MagicQ now supports a Window Size dialogue box to enable the window position and window size to be selected
directly with one press directly rather than stepping through all the possible window sizes and postions.

The window size dialog box can also be opened by double clicking on the titlebar of the window that you wish to size. On
MagicQ consoles the window size button SIZE (ALT EXEC on MQ40/60/80 and ALT PATCH on MQ500) opens the Window
Size dialog box.

The old style window positioning and sizing is still available by pressing SHIFT + SIZE. Previously SHIFT + SIZE made a
window external - but this has not been needed for many years as MAgicQ has had a dedicated EXT button.

MagicQ allows sizing of windows to 1,2 or 3 rows when using the LEFT (1..4) and RIGHT (1..4) window sizes. By default they
continue to size as before - filling the left or right side automatically, but you can now specify for each window whether they
should be restricted to 1,2 or 3 rows.

If you only have LEFT (1..4) windows opened then they will automatically spread across the whole width - so this new option is
available on the left column, on the right column or across the whole width.

When you set a window to size of LEFT (1..4) or RIGHT (1..4) then you get extra options in the Toolbar, View menu to select
the number of rows; Default, 1 row, 2 row, 3 row.

The setting is stored/recalled in Layouts and also in the show file.

5.1.2.2 Support for Find in MagicQ windows

MagicQ supports a Find function which searches the text fields in the current focused Window.

On the toolbar select Edit, Find or press the short cut key CTRL F. Alternatively on consoles press CTRL and CURSOR RIGHT.
Then enter the text to search for. The find can also be invoked by entering text on the command line and then using any of the
previous methods to start the Find operation.

To search again forwards press CTRL and CURSOR RIGHT. To search again backwards press CTRL and CURSOR LEFT.

The CTRL F shortcut only works on PC/Macs when MagicQ Keyboard Mode is set to Normal. In all other MagicQ Keyboard
Modes the CTRL and keyboard keys open MagicQ windows.

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5.1.3 Status and Display Windows

Towards the bottom of the touch screen are two small windows, the Status Display and the Input Display. The Status Display
shows the current date and time, the ADD / SWAP status of the console and other relevant status information.

The status window also shows warnings - for example if INVALID NET is seen here this indicates MagicQ has been setup to
output via Network e.g. Artnet and that MagicQ’s IP address has been set differently to the PC’s network adapter.

The Input Display shows the data that has been currently entered through the keypad and the keyboard. Note that text is not
entered into the main Windows until ENTER is pressed. This allows the user to choose whether the keyboard data is SET into
fields in the windows or onto Playbacks.

After a command has been entered it also confirms that the command has been accepted and shows any error messages when a
command is not possible.

5.1.4 Head Control

The area around the two large rotary encoders is referred to as the head control area. It is used to alter the parameters of individual
heads and apply effects such as fans over groups of heads.

The NEXT HEAD and PREV HEAD buttons are used to select an individual head to modify.

The other buttons control the selection mode; LOCATE, HIGHLIGHT, FAN, SINGLE, ODD/EVEN, and ALL.

5.1.5 Editor Buttons

The Editor buttons are used to modify program data. The 8 buttons on the right hand side are the action buttons which are used
to modify show data. The action buttons are UNDO, REMOVE, MOVE, COPY, SET, INCLUDE, UPDATE, and RECORD.

The buttons on the left:

BLIND and CLEAR affect the programmer

REL and SELECT affect playbacks

SHIFT selects alternate functions

←- undoes keyboard input and clears actions

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5.1.6 Playback

The Playback area is situated directly below the touch screen and consists of 10 playbacks each with a fader and four buttons
(FLASH, GO, STOP, SELECT). The area above each of the playbacks on the touch screen is used to provide information about
the status of the playback.

The playback area also contains a Grand Master, a Sub Master, Page Select buttons and a Manual Playback for taking control of
Cue Stacks.

The cross fade section contains a GO, STOP. FWD, BCK buttons, a cross fader and a master GO button. The cross fade section
controls the current playback selected with the S button.

On the MQ500 there are 15 fader playbacks and 15 execute playbacks above them.

5.2 Keyboard, Keypad, Select & Confirm Windows

MagicQ has a set of additional on-screen Windows that can be used to enter text, select items and confirm actions. You can
choose whether you use the physical keyboard/keypad to navigate around these items or whether you use the mouse/touch.

To open the Keyboard Window at any time press SET SET. To open the icon selector press SHIFT + SET.

Confirm Windows are shown when you carry out important actions that may overwrite or delete show data. You can confirm an
action by pressing 1 on the keypad. To cancel the action press 0 on the keypad.

5.3 Common Actions

MagicQ utilises many common actions for carrying out programming functions. All the actions use similar button presses. Once
you understand the action in one Window, you will understand how it is done in another Window.

We strongly recommend you make yourself familiar with these actions – they will save you valuable programming time.

5.3.1 Items

Actions in a Window can be carried out on individual items or on multiple items. For actions on a single item, use the cursor
keys to move around the Window so that the cursor is over the required item.

For multiple items in a Window, move the cursor to the first item. Then press and hold the SHIFT button whilst moving the
cursor to the last item. All the items will be highlighted.

Alternatively hold the CTRL button and select multiple individual items.

In spreadsheet style Windows (e.g. Patch) pressing the touch screen or left clicking on the item with the mouse moves the cursor
to the item. You can highlight multiple Window items by pressing the touch screen and moving the touch across multiple items.

In boxes style Windows (e.g. Group), pressing the touch screen or left clicking performs the function associated with the item
(e.g. recalls that Group). In these Windows use SHIFT or CTRL and the cursor keys to highlight multiple boxes.

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5.3.2 Setting the value of items

To set the value of one or more items in a spreadsheet style window:

• Move the cursor over the item (s)

• Enter a value on the keypad and press ENTER.

OR

• Type in the value on the keypad

• Press the touch screen / click / ENTER over the item.

For items that have a simple value of yes or no if you do not enter a value on the keypad then the value will toggle. For items that
have multiple values double click on the field for a list of values. On the touch screen select the field and then press anywhere in
the Input Display (right side area underneath the main window) to bring up the list of values.

Items that are coloured darker are read only and therefore cannot be set.

5.3.3 Naming items

• Press the SET button

• Press the touch screen / click / ENTER over the item to name.

• Enter the name on the external or on screen keyboards

When working in spreadsheets style windows with an external keyboard it is not necessary to press the SET button in the above
sequence - you can edit the spreadsheet like any other, just by moving to the appropriate box and entering text on the keyboard.

To name multiple items it is often easier to highlight the items before pressing SET. If you press SET immediately after high­lighting multiple items then the console will assume that these are the items you wish to set.

You can also press SET instead of pressing ENTER in the above sequences.

5.3.4 Moving items

• Press the MOVE button.

• Press the touch screen / click / ENTER over the source item.

• Press the touch screen / click / ENTER over the destination item.

You can also press MOVE instead of pressing ENTER in the above sequences.

To move multiple items it is often easier to highlight the items before pressing MOVE. If you press MOVE immediately after
highlighting multiple items then the console will assume that these are the source items and will only prompt for the destination.
You can hold SHIFT or CTRL to highlight multiple items.

From 1.7.6.4 MagicQ supports dragging to move items within Windows. Press SHIFT + MOVE to enter Drag Move mode.
Items can then be dragged and dropped within windows. Drag Move mode will contirnue until MOVE is pressed again, or
BACKSPACE is pressed.

The MOVE button flashes when in Drag Move mode.

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5.3.5 Copying items

• Press the COPY button.

• Press the touch screen / click / ENTER over the source item.

• Press the touch screen / click / ENTER over the destination item.

You can also press COPY instead of pressing ENTER in the above sequence.

To copy multiple items highlight it is often easier to highlight the items before pressing COPY. If you press COPY immediately
after highlighting multiple items then the console will assume that these are the source items and will only prompt for the
destination. You can hold SHIFT or CTRL to highlight multiple items.

When copying Cues, Cue Stacks or Pages the console by default does not make individual copies of the Cues - the Cue Stacks
link to the same Cues. To copy unlinked (i.e. to create new Cues) then press SHIFT and COPY in the above sequence and select
Unlinked.

5.3.6 Removing items

• Press the REMOVE button.

• Press the touch screen / click / ENTER over the item to remove.

To remove multiple items highlight it is often easier to highlight the items before pressing REMOVE. If you press REMOVE
immediately after highlighting multiple items then the console will assume that you wish to remove the highlighted items.

You can also press REMOVE instead of pressing ENTER in the above sequence.

5.3.7 Recording items

In boxes style windows it is possible to record an item (e.g. in the Group Window, to record a group):

• Press the RECORD button.

• Press the touch screen / click / ENTER over the item to record.

You can also press RECORD instead of pressing ENTER in the above sequence.

5.4 Icons

MagicQ supports icons for all programmed items. The size of the icons can be set in the Window Settings in the Setup Window.

Icons can be used on Groups, Colours, Beams, Positions, Cues, Cue Stacks and in the Execute Window.

To set an icon for a Window item (e.g. a Palette Entry) press SHIFT SET. Press the touch screen / click / ENTER over the item
to set an icon for. This will open the Icon library. The Icon library is split into different types of Icons for colours, positions and
different types of gobos.

Select the icon from the icon library.

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5.4.1 Actions on Playbacks

Actions on playbacks are similar to window items except that the S buttons are used instead of window items.

To select a Playback, press the S button for the appropriate Playback.

To record a Playback, press RECORD, then press the S button for the appropriate Playback.

To name a Playback press SET, then press the S button for the Playback. Enter the name using the on screen keyboard or the
external keyboard.

To move a Playback, press MOVE, then press the S button for the source Playback and then press the S button for the destination
Playback.

To copy a Playback, press COPY, then press the S button for the source Playback and then press the S button for the destination
Playback.

To include the contents of a Playback into the Programmer, press INCLUDE, then press the S button for the destination Playback.

To remove a Playback, press REMOVE, then press the S button for the Playback. Press the S button again to confirm the remove.

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Chapter 6

Quick Start

6.1 Starting up MagicQ

On MagicQ consoles hold the power button on the rear panel. On MagicQ PC and Mac click on the MagicQ application icon.

On start up you are presented with an option to load demo shows or to continue the last show. Selecting last show will load and
run the last show used on the system. This option can be hidden for subsequent start ups.

The console remembers all windows that were open when the console was last used. To close all windows press SHIFT and
CLOSE.

Press SETUP to open the Setup Window.

6.2 Calibrating the Touch Screen

On MagicQ consoles if the touch screen does not seem to be responding to your touch correctly then you may need to calibrate
the touch screen.

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Press the SETUP button to open the Setup Window. Press the CAL TOUCH soft button. When asked for confirmation press 1
on the keypad or press the CAL TOUCH soft button again.

Calibration works by finding the bottom left and top right corners of the screen. First press the bottom left of the touch screen
and then the top right. You may wish to use a fine but blunt object.

The shortcut CTRL + SET can be used to open the Calibrate window at any time.

6.3 Starting a New Show

To start a new show, go to the Setup Window and press the NEW SHOW soft button. This will clear the current show from
memory – shows that have been previously saved to disc will not be affected. You will be asked to confirm by selecting YES.

There is a choice of four modes.

• Normal - faders activate Cue Stacks. When recording, all data in the programmer is stored in recorded cues

• Theatre non-track - faders operate levels only. When recording, all data in the programmer is stored in recorded cues

• Theatre tracking - faders operate levels only. When recording only data in the programmer that has changed since the last

record is stored in recorded cues

• Hog II warp – like Theatre Tracking but with some extra features to make the programming more familiar to Hog II users.

In Theatre and Hog II modes, fixtures return to their default values when not under control of a playback or the programmer.
The keypad is set up to enable selection of Palettes using Palette numbers, and Cue Stack timing defaults to being stepped timing
rather than chase timing.

The mode can be changed at any time by using the Programming Mode soft button in the Setup Window. In addition each
individual option / default value can be customised by the user and saved as their personal settings file.

Starting a show clears all patching, all programming and all palettes. It does not clear console specific options such as the
configuration of the DMX outputs or the calibration of the touch screen.

See <_programming_mode,Programming Mode> for more details.

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6.4 Enabling Outputs

To enable output of channel data select the DMX IO VIEW in the Setup Window. This windows enables modification of the
inputs and outputs for all the universes. MagicQ consoles support DMX directly from the console or via an external Ethernet to
DMX convertor. On MagicQ PC or Mac you can output via USB to DMX interfaces (such as MagicDMX) or via DMX outputs
from the Wings.

6.4.1 Using Direct DMX Outputs

All current MagicQ consoles have DMX output ports directly on the rear panel.

The four DMX outputs on the rear panel automatically output universes 1 to 4 unless they are configured otherwise. The DMX
will be output regardless of the “Status” enabled or disabled in the Setup DMX I/O window. On Pro consoles there is a green
LED on the rear panel that indicates when DMX is being output.

If you wish to choose alternative universes to be output to the four DMX outputs on the rear panel then you will need to configure
the outputs manually. For each of the Universes you wish to output on the rear panel, select Out Type as “MagicQ Direct” and
Port 1, Port 2, Port 3 and Port 4 and enable the universes.

The picture below shows the direct ports to output Universes 5 to 8.

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6.4.2 Using Outputs via network

MagicQ supports output via the network ports using Art-Net, Pathport or ACN Streaming DMX.

To output Art-Net on a Universe enable it and ensure that the output type is set to Art-Net. Choose which Art-Net Universe you
wish to Output the MagicQ Universe on. MagicQ defaults to outputing MagicQ universe 1 on the first Art-Net Universe (Art
0-0).

If you are using Ethernet to DMX512 conversion boxes then you will need to configure the boxes to respond to the correct
Art-Net sub-net and Art-Net universe.

With ChamSys SnakeSys B4 or R4 you need to set up the two rotary switches to the correct values – the left one for Art-Net
sub-net and the right one for Art-Net universe. The interface will then decode the four Art-Net universes starting from that
Art-Net subnet and universe.

In most networks the Art-Net sub-net is set to 0. If you are using only one Ethernet to DMX512 interface then you can normally
use subnet 0 universe 0.

If you are using multiple Ethernet Interfaces then you will need to set each Ethernet Interface to a different Art-Net Universe –
for example when using two ChamSys SnakeSys B4 Interfaces set the first Interface to Art-Net Universe 0 and the second one to
Art-Net Universe 4.

MagicQ includes a DMX viewer for monitoring Art-Net on the Network – select Tools, DMX View.

6.5 Connecting a MagicQ Playback Wing

To connect a MagicQ Playback or Extra Wing simply connect the Wing to the MagicQ console via USB. In the Setup Window,
View System, View Wings set the first Wing to be type USB Wing.

By default the Playback Wings are set so that the Wings change page when the Next Page / Prev Page button are pressed on the
MagicQ console. It is possible to make the Wings operate completely independently of the main MagicQ console by changing
the “Lower Bank Tie” and “Upper Bank Tie”.

To use multiple Playback Wings simply connect them and change the type to USB wing.

6.5.1 Setting Playback Wing IDs

When using MagicQ consoles with multiple Playback / Extra Wings (or multiple Execute Wings) it is now possible to set a Wing
ID for each Wing. The required wing ID can then be set in Setup, View Wings to ensure that the Wings are identified correctly
and control the correct Playbacks. Previously Wings could swap over if one was reset or they were powered on in a different
sequence.

Note that the Wing ID is only supported on new Wings with blue LCDs and the most recent Wing firmware. The Wing ID is set
by holding the reset button under the armrest of the Wing whilst holding the lower most Page UP and Page Down buttons.

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6.6 Connecting External Monitors

MagicQ consoles have DVI or HDMI connectors for connecting external monitors. The montitor should be plugged in before
starting the console.

6.7 Patching

Open the Patch Window by pressing the PATCH button. The Patch Window has three views, VIEW HEADS, VIEW CHANS
and VIEW DMX. In this section we describe patching in VIEW HEADS.

Choose the head you wish to patch by pressing the CHOOSE HEAD soft button. The Window will change to give you a list of
manufacturers and heads. Select a head by pressing the touch screen. Alternatively scroll around the Window using the cursor
keys, and press ENTER when the cursor is over the correct head.

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Once you have chosen a head you will be returned to the Patch Window. Press the PATCH IT soft button to patch the head. You
will be prompted for the number you wish to prompt and the address where you wish to patch the heads. Use @ to patch at a
specific address.

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For example to patch 5 Mac250 mode 4 to Universe 2 channel 1 enter

5 @ 2 - 1

If you wish to patch multiple channels at fixed offsets e.g. five Martin Mac250s at DMX channels 1,21,41,61,81 then enter

5 @ 2 – 1 / 20

To patch a dimmer, simply press CHOOSE DIM/MEDIA, select Generic Dimmerer and then patch one or more dimmers as
above.

In the Patch Window all the lighter coloured fields can be configured. To modify a field, first move the cursor to the field, then
input the new value using the keypad, and finally press ENTER.

In this way you can modify DMX address, head number, head name and gel for each of your patched heads.

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6.7.1 Naming and Numbering Heads

Once you have patched all the heads you can then name and number them as you wish. It is recommended that you name the
dimmer or the head based on its location (e.g. front wash / back truss SL). For dimmers you may wish to configure the gel. This
makes programming easier – enabling the console to auto program cues for you.

The gel field uses gel numbers. For Lee colours enter the gel number directly (e.g. 181 for Lee 181). For Rosco colours enter the
gel number preceded by dot (e.g. .14 for Rosco 14). For no colour enter 0. If you would prefer to use colour names rather than
gel numbers then simply enter the colour name.

To test a patched head or dimmer, simply press the TEST MODE soft button (soft button encode C) and the head which the
cursor is over will be tested. For heads it locates the fixture; for dimmers it sets the dimmer to 100%. Press the TEST MODE
soft button again to turn test mode off.

6.8 Controlling Heads

6.8.1 Selecting Heads

In order to control intelligent heads it is necessary to be able to select which heads to use. The MagicQ console keeps track of
the currently selected heads to enable it to determine which heads to apply changes to. The operator can select head individually
or can use groups to recall configurations of heads that are used frequently.

In “Hog Warp” mode or when the Setup option “Keypad always selects head is set” you can select heads from the keypad – for
instance to select heads 1 through 4.

1 THRU 4 ENTER

In other modes, you can select the heads using

1 THRU 4 @@

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6.8.2 Selecting heads from the Group/Heads Window

The console automatically generates a group for all the heads of a particular head type. In addition new groups can easily be
recorded.

The Group Window has two views. VIEW GROUPS enables selection of heads using groups whilst VIEW HEADS enables
individual selection of heads.

In VIEW GROUPS, pressing the touch screen for a particular group selects all the heads associated with that group. All other
heads are deselected. To select multiple groups, press SHIFT and a group to toggle the group in and out of selection.

In VIEW HEADS, individual heads are selected / deselected by pressing the touch screen. Use PG UP and PG DN to scroll
through the heads.

6.8.3 Recording a Group

Select the heads you want in a group using keypad selection or in the VIEW HEADS view of the Group Window.

Change to the VIEW GROUPS view.

Press RECORD and then select the group you wish to record either by pressing the touch screen or by using the cursor keys and
then pressing ENTER.

6.9 Naming a Group

When recording a group, if you key in a name before pressing the touch screen (or pressing ENTER) then the group will be
named at the same time as it is recorded.

You can name a group at any time by keying in the name, pressing SET, and pressing the touch screen.

If you do not have a keyboard then press SET and select the group to name by pressing the touch screen (or using cursor keys
and ENTER). A keyboard window will be displayed for you to enter the name on screen.

6.10 Recalling a Group

Once a group has been recorded then pressing the touch screen for the group will make all the heads in the group selected. All
other heads will be deselected. Use SHIFT to select multiple groups. There is a Setup option to allow the user to default to
selecting multiple groups.

6.11 Setting Levels for Dimmers

From the keypad you can enter commands such as

1 @ 50 ENTER

1 THRU 4 @ FULL ENTER

It is also possible to use the Intensity Window by pressing the INT button. This window displays a fader for each dimmer and
head patched onto the console. Pressing the slider part of the fader sets the appropriate level. When a fader is moved from 0 the
channel in the programmer is activated – and the fader will turn red.

The Window has two views, View Prog and View Preset – faders changed in the Prog View affect the intensity levels in the
programmer and are recorded into Cues. Faders changed in the Preset View are like traditional “one per channel” preset faders
on older lighting consoles – this enables levels on channels to be set without affecting programming. This is equivalent to
“Parking” on other consoles.

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The SQUARE OFF soft button enables fast programming of intensities. Using the touch panel select the channels you wish to
have at full and at zero – but don’t bother being exactly accurate with the level of the selection. Pressing SQUARE OFF finishes
the job by setting all channels that are less than 50% to 0 whilst setting channels above 50% to full.

Use the ALL TO FULL and ALL TO ZERO buttons to change the level of all the channels.

Press the CLEAR soft button to clear the programmer.

6.12 Locating Heads

The first action you are likely to want to do is to locate the heads – i.e. to put them into a starting position. Select the required
heads and then press the LOCATE button. Locating a head brings all the attributes for that head into the programmer.

If the heads enable DMX control of the striking of the lamp then you may need to “Lamp On” the head in order to see the beam.
Select the heads and then press SHIFT LOCATE. This runs the "Lamp On" macro.

6.13 Modifying Attributes

Intelligent heads have several different attributes typically including pan and tilt, colour, gobo and iris. When the MagicQ lighting
console patches an intelligent head it maps the head parameters to standard attributes to enable easy access of the features of the
head.

Attributes are categorised into four types – Intensity, Position, Colour and Beam. On MagicQ there is a window for each of these
attribute types. Select the required heads, then open the required window.

You can quickly open all the Palette Windows by pressing Layout 1 or holding CTRL and pressing the top soft button marked
Palettes – this opens the windows in the layout below.

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The highlighted window enables controls the soft buttons and rotary encoders. In each of the Windows the X and Y encoders
control the most important attributes – Pan and Tilt in Position Window, Col Wheel 1 and Col Wheel 2 in the Colour Window
and Gobo Wheel 1 and Gobo Wheel 2 in the Beam Window. In the Beam Window there are more than eight attributes to be
controlled – these are accessed using multiple pages of encoders – by pressing the NEXT PAGE soft button.

For indexed attributes such as colour wheels and gobo wheels, the button associated with each encoder can be used to bump the
attribute value to the next range. Pressing SHIFT and the button bumps back to the previous range.

In addition the window enables selection of palette values for the attribute type using the touch screen. When heads are recorded
the system automatically generates palettes for each attribute type. You can record new palette entries, or modify existing ones
as you see fit.

In the Colour Window pressing the COL MIX / COL ATTRIBS button changes to the colour picker. Press COL TYPE to select
standard colours, Lee colours, Rosco colours or HIS model.

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6.14 Recording a Palette

To record a favourite combination of attributes into a palette (e.g. a rotating triangle with a prism on a MAC500), first modify the
attributes to the values you wish to record. Then press RECORD and select the palette entry you wish to record. By default only
selected heads get recorded into a palette (this can be changed by pressing SHIFT + RECORD and choosing Record options).

To name the palette, key in the name on the external keyboard, then press SET and select the palette entry you wish to name. To
use the on screen keyboard, first move the cursor over the palette entry, then press SET and key in the name followed by ENTER.

6.15 Adding in FX

To add a FX to some heads, select the heads then from the Group Window or the Prog Window press the ADD FX soft button.
Choose the FX to add.

Once you have chosen a FX you are returned to the Prog Window. Use the encoders to modify the parameters of the FX such as
the speed, size and spread between heads.

You can add multiple FX to a head, provided that the FX uses different attributes - e.g. you can mix a Pan Sine with a Tilt Sine.

6.16 Recording a Cue

To record a look onto a Cue, first set up the look, then press RECORD and press the S button of the Playback to record the Cue
onto.

To test the Cue, first clear the programmer by pressing CLEAR then raise the Playback fader or press the Playback flash button.

Note that recording a Cue onto a Playback, generates a Cue Stack with a single Cue. However, as there is only one step, it
behaves as though it is just the Cue on the Playback.

To view a recorded Cue, press the S button for the Playback, and then press CUE to open the Cue Window.

To configure options when recording, press SHIFT + RECORD and a toolbar of record options will be displayed. Choose the
options you require then press the S button of the Playback as above.

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6.17 Recording a Cue Stack (Chase or Theatre Stack)

Recording a Cue Stack is the same as recording a Cue - you simply record multiple Cues onto a Playback and you end up with a
Cue Stack.

So, for example to record a stack of two looks, the first yellow dots, the second blue triangles:

• Generate the yellow dots look.

• Press RECORD and press the S button of the playback.

• Generate the blue triangles look.

• Press RECORD and press the S button of the playback.

To test the Cue, clear the programmer by pressing CLEAR then raise the Playback fader or press the Playback flash button.

View the Cue Stack by selecting the Playback and pressing CUE STACK to open the Cue Stack Window.

When you record more than one Cue onto a Playback the Cue Stack controls the transition from one Cue to another. In Normal
mode by default the Cue Stack operates like a chase - i.e. each Cue is executed in turn, with timing being handled by a Chase
Speed for the whole Cue Stack.

In Theatre Modes the default timing is Cue Timing – individual Fade times on each step with GO stepping from one step to the
next.

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The timing mode can be changed, so that the Cues play back in a theatre style using the GO / STOP buttons. Select the VIEW
OPTIONS view and press the CUE TIMING and CHASE TIMING soft buttons to modify the timing mode.

6.18 Selecting and recording complete window layouts

The console enables complete window layouts to be recorded and selected. The console incorporates several standard window
layouts including Palettes and Cue Stacks.

There are physical buttons for Layout 1, 2 and 3. Layouts 1 to 12 can also be accessed by holding CTRL and selecting one of the
top soft buttons.

To select a Window layout press one of the Layout buttons, or hold down CTRL and select one of the top soft buttons.

To record a Window layout first close all windows (SHIFT + CLOSE). Then open the required Windows and size them appro­priately. Press RECORD and then press a Layout button or hold down CTRL and select one of the top soft buttons.

To name the Window layout, press SET and then press a Layout button or hold down CTRL and select one of the top soft buttons.
Enter a name for the layout.

6.19 Saving the Show

When programming a show the show is stored in memory. In order to store your show on the disk you need to press the SAVE
SHOW soft button in the Setup Window.

Whilst programming, you should regularly save your show, so that if the power fails your show data is not lost. You can chose
any filename - MagicQ will automatically set the file extension to .shw.

By default, MagicQ periodically saves a backup of your show to disk. It uses the same show name but with the file extension
.sbk.

It is a good idea to save your show to different file names so that you have various points you can back-track to if things go
wrong. For example, save the show as myshow-patch.shw after you have patched and then as myshow-final.shw after you have
finished programming.

When you shut down MagicQ through the QUIT soft button in the Setup Window, MagicQ automatically saves a backup copy
of your show with a .sbk extension. When you subsequently restart MagicQ this file will be re-loaded. This ensures that MagicQ
starts up as it was when the QUIT soft button was pressed.

MagicQ show files are typically only a few megabytes in size so many different shows or versions of a show can be saved without
problem.

6.20 Playback

Now you have Cues and Cue Stacks recorded you can play back your show using the Playback faders and buttons. You can
control how each Cue Stack is played back using the Cue Stack options – for example you can set the fader to control LTP fades
or FX size and speed.

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Make sure the master faders are raised!

Note that if you have a large show file you may wish to turn auto backups off during playback. Remember to turn them back on
when you are programming.

If you get stuck at any point, just press the HELP button!

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Chapter 7

Patching

7.1 Patching on MagicQ

MagicQ considers DMX and console channels to be the same and therefore there is no need for complex patching to be carried
out before the console can be used. MagicQ allows access to all DMX channels on all DMX universes supported on the console.
Each channel can be controlled and programmed independently.

Each head can be allocated a head number for recall using the keypad and a name for identification. However to save time,
MagicQ will automatically allocate numbers and names according to head types.

7.2 Getting started with patching

MagicQ supports comprehensive patching facilities for allocating dimmers and intelligent heads to DMX channels. Patching can
be carried out at any time and has an immediate effect.

Press the PATCH button to open the Patch Window. The Patch Window has four views, VIEW HEADS, VIEW CHANS, VIEW
DMX and VIEW VIS.

VIEW HEADS is used to patch heads, name and number then and set and gel colour.

VIEW CHANS is used to carry out operations on individual DMX channels, such as testing the channel and setting inverts.

VIEW DMX is used when patching more than one DMX channel to a MagicQ Head.

VIEW VIS is used for setting up and modifying visualiser heads in the MagicVis visualiser.

7.3 Patching a Head or Dimmer

MagicQ supports a large library of heads. MagicQ treats dimmers just like any other head - they just happen to have a single
channel. Dimmers use the "Generic Dimmer" personality.

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Choose the head you wish to patch by pressing the CHOOSE HEAD soft button. The Window will change to give you a list
of heads. Select a head by pressing the touch screen. Alternatively scroll around the Window using the cursor keys, and press
ENTER when the cursor is over the correct head.

Once you have chosen a head you will be returned to the Patch Window. Press the PATCH IT soft button to patch the head, and
you will be prompted for an address to patch the head to.

Press ENTER to patch to the next free address – the title bar shows the next free address that a head of the chosen type can be
patched. If you wish to patch multiple heads at fixed offsets e.g. four Martin Mac500s at DMX channels 1,21,41,61 then enter
4/20.

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To patch a head at a specific address use @. For example to patch 10 dimmers at DMX address 20 key in 10@20. To patch to the
2nduniverse use 10@2-20. To patch at the first free address on a universe other than the first universe use +, e.g. for the second
universe use 10@+2-1.

If this is the first patch you have patched then MagicQ will prompt you whether to add the head into the visualiser. Pressing yes
will create a visualiser head within the show file, so that you can see the head in the MagicQ visualiser.

To patch more heads, just repeat the above process.

To patch a dimmer, simply press CHOOSE DIM/MEDIA, select Generic Dimmer, and then patch one or more dimmers as above.

In the Patch Window all the fields coloured yellow can be configured. To modify a field, first move the cursor to the field, then
input the new value using the keypad and keyboard, and finally press ENTER.

In this way you can modify DMX address, head number, head name and gel for each of your patched heads.

7.4 Head Names and Head Numbers

Press the VIEW HEADS soft button to check the heads you have patched, and to name and number them as you wish. In the
Patch Window all the light coloured fields can be configured. To modify a field, first move the cursor to the field, then input the
new value using the keypad and keyboard, and finally press ENTER.

Multiple head names and numbers can be set at the same time by using SHIFT and the cursor keys to select multiple items.
Turning on test mode using the TEST HEAD soft button makes it easy to view each head / dimmer in turn.

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By default the VIEW HEADS view is sorted by head number. If you are setting head numbers by entering each head number
individually then you may find it easier if the view is sorted by DMX. Press the SORT soft button and select BY DMX. Note that
the sort also affects the order in the Intensities Window, the Programmer Window and the Group Window.

7.4.1 Head Names

Head names are used to identify the Dimmer or Head. We recommend that you set the head name based on its location (e.g.
front wash / back truss SL). It is not necessary to name intelligent heads according to their product name (e.g. Mac500) as this is
already stored in the head.

7.4.2 Head Numbers

Head numbers are used in various displays to indicate which heads are being operated on. Head numbers can also be used for
selecting heads and setting intensities directly from the keypad.

By default MagicQ numbers in the order that they are patched starting from 1.

If you expect to be selecting heads using the keypad then we recommend you use unique head numbers for each head. Mag­icQ uses unique numbers by default. You can modify head numbers manually so that they are more meaningful to your rig.
Alternatively you can use one of the in-built renumber algorithms.

For multi head elements, by default MagicQ allocates each element of a multi element head ascending head numbers. MagicQ
also supports the multiple elements of a multi element head all having the same head number and then use of the dot (.) operator
to select individual heads.

Multiple multi head elements can be set to use only a single head number in Patch, View Heads by setting the Head Number
appended with /1 to indicate only 1 head number in use for that fixture.

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7.4.3 Renumbering Head Numbers

Pressing RENUM HEAD NOS and selecting BEST FIT causes MagicQ to use an intelligent algorithm to allocate heads starting
with numbers that you can easily recall. For example, if you patch 4 MAC500s and 4 HPEs then when you renumber using BEST
FIT it will number the MAC500s from 1 to 4 and the HPEs from 11 to 14.

If you would rather work with DMX channel numbers, then press the RENUM HEAD NOS soft button and select BY DMX.
This will configure the head number for all patched heads to be the DMX channel address of the head. You can then select heads
and set intensities using the DMX channel numbers.

Selecting HEADS (ALL START 1) sets the head numbers so that for each head the numbers start from 1 - this is the default
option. Selecting BY NAME sets the head numbers so that they use head name, gel and type to order the heads.

7.4.4 Patching to specific Head numbers

It is possible to patch direct to a specific head number using the * operator.

For example:

10 @ 7 – 2 * 201

This will patch 10 heads at channel 2 on Universe 7 starting at head number 201.

7.5 Gel name and number

For dimmers you may wish to configure the gel name or number. This makes programming easier – enabling MagicQ to auto
program cues for you.

The gel field uses gel numbers. For Lee colours enter the gel number directly (e.g. 181 for Lee 181). For Rosco colours enter the
gel number preceded by dot (e.g. .14 for Rosco 14). For no colour enter 0. If you would prefer to use colour names rather than
gel numbers then simply enter the colour name. MagicQ knows standard colour names.

7.6 Col Tags

It is possible to assing a Col Tag to each head. Col Tags from the Patch are used in other windows if Setup, View Settings,
Windows, Col tags is set to "Patch".

7.7 Generating auto groups

MagicQ automatically generates groups for each of the different heads patched – e.g. “All Dimmers”, “All Mac500”.

MagicQ is also capable of generating groups based on gel colours and head names. Press the AUTO GROUPS soft button in the
VIEW HEADS view of the Patch Window and then select Dimmers and/or Heads.

When Dimmers are selected MagicQ will examine all dimmers patched and generate a group for each different gel colour and a
group for each different head name.

When Heads is selected MagicQ will generate a group for each different head type that has heads with a distinct head name.
Thus if you have named some of your Mac500s “front” and some of them “back” it will generate a “Mac500 front” group and a
“Mac500 back” group.

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7.8 Auto Palettes

When patching fixtures, MagicQ creates Palettes based on the Palettes stored in the Personality - typically the 10 basic colours.
MagicQ also creates Palettes based on the main Gobo ranges for any Ranges in the Personality that have Auto Pal set. If the
personality does not have any gobo ranges with the Auto Pal option set, then MagicQ now generates gobo palettes based on all
the gobos set with Range Type of Fixed, Index or Rotate.

From 1.7.4.4 MagicQ also automatically generates beam palettes for shutter, gobo rotation, iris and zoom attributes. Beam
palettes for gobo rotation contain both Rotate 1 and Rotate 2 attributes if present in the fixture.

Auto palette generation can be turned on and off and customised in the Patch Window, View Heads, soft button X. When set to
All, all auto groups and auto palettes are generated. It is possible to individually select generation of groups, intensity, position,
colour, gobos, rotate, iris, shutter, and zoom.

7.9 Heads with multiple elements

MagicQ supports heads that have multiple attributes of one type – e.g. more than one dimmer or more than one red, green or
blue channel.

The dot (.) syntax is used to access the sub elements. Individual elements can be selected using the dot (.) operator. For example
to select the 1st element only, enter .1 NEXT HEAD or .1 @@. This sub selects only the 1st element. Pressing ALL returns the
selection to all elements.

MagicQ heads can be written to support one of two methods for supporting multiple attributes of the same type - the newer way
is "Duplicated Heads" whilst the older way uses "Multi Elements Heads".

7.9.1 Duplicated Heads

Duplicated Heads treats the head as a single head but with attributes that appear multiple times in the personality.

When using the head, the duplicated elements by default are treated as one element - so the 2nd, 3rd and 4th elements just copy
the programming from the 1st element. This ensures that the Head is simple to use and appears to act as if it only had a single
element.

When locating, selecting palettes and using soft buttons or encoders on attribute parameters only the first element is made active
in the programmer and therefore only the first element is recorded into Cues. When the Cues are played back then MagicQ copies
the calculated values from the 1st element to the other elements.

When a sub selection is active on a Duplicated Head then the specific elements will be made active in the Programmer and
subsequently recorded into Cues. When the Cues are played back MagicQ uses the programming from the Cue for elements that
have been recorded in to the Cue, only copying for elements that have not been recorded.

All elements can be selected if you wish to apply split times across all elements or to include all elements in a FX. Select all
elements using the syntax .> @@

Palettes values are by default created for the first element. When a sub selection is in operation MagicQ will use the value in the
Palette for the first element if there is no specific palette entry for the element selected - this avoids the need for creating separate
palette information for each element. When a Palette is updated it will update Cues that use that Palette from the sub element if
it exists in the Palette - otherwise it will use the data from the 1st element - ensuring that the Cue gets updated as expected.

Note that Duplicated heads operate slightly differently to normal fixtures when splitting elements between different playbacks or
the programmer. The playback that has the first element active controls all the other elements. If that playback has only the 1st
element active in it then all elements will output the same regardless of whether other elements are active on other playbacks.
Similarly if the programmer only has the 1st element active in it then all elements will output the same regardless of whether
other elements are active on any playbacks.

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7.9.2 Multi Element Heads

Multi Element Heads treats the head as multiple different heads each patched automatically to adjacent addresses.

Multi element heads are patched in exactly the same way as normal heads, but MagicQ shows a * next to the DMX address to
indicate that it is a multi element head.

MagicQ recognises three kinds of multi element heads – those which simply have a repeated element, those that have a main
element followed by a repeated element and those that have repeated elements followed by a main element.

When multi element heads are patched MagicQ generates the “All” group which contains both the main and repeated elements.
MagicQ will also generate separate groups for the main “Mn” part and the repeated “Ele” part.

Multi element heads can have a separate head number for each element in the head – so that when patching several of these heads,
the head numbers will increase by more than one per head. Alternatively all the elements can be set to the same head number.

When all the elements are set to the same head number the separate elements of the head can also be sub selected using the dot
operator from the keypad – for example for head 2 you can select 2.4 to sub select the 4thelement.

7.10 Inverting and Swapping

In VIEW HEADS you can invert the pan and tilt channels of moving heads and also swap the pan and tilt channels. Pressing
ENTER in the appropriate field changes the field value.

Individual channels can also be inverted in VIEW CHANS if required.

7.11 Pan and Tilt Offsets

To add a Pan or Tilt offset then enter the offset in degrees in the Pan offset or Tilt offset in the Patch Window. The offset affects
all programmed values.

7.12 Applying Offsets using Update

MagicQ supports a quick method of applying an offset to channels such as a pan or tilt offset, or an offset on a colour scroll.

To apply an offset, playback the Cues and then override only the parameters you wish to offset in the programmer. Then press the
Update button. The Update options have been modified to include an extra option “Patch Offset”. Selecting this option applies a
permanent offset to the channel in the Patch rather than modifying the individual Palettes and Cues.

To remove the offset go to Patch, View Chans and remove the offset from the appropriate channels.

Offsets apply only to LTP channels, not to HTP (Intensity) channels.

The Outputs window shows channels with offsets in green colour.

The Patch window shows offsets applied to Pan and Tilt in the Pan Offset and Tilt Offset field.

7.13 Minimum and Maximum levels

You can set minimum and maximum levels for each patched channel from the VIEW CHANS view. This is useful for setting
pre-heat on dimmers or for limiting output values of certain lamps where power is tight.

The minimum and maximum levels have absolute over-ride over all other playback and programming. Master faders and the
DBO button do not affect the minimum and maximum levels.

Minimum levels can be useful to force a minimum light level on a stage, for example during a changeover.

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7.13.1 Limits and Offset.

It is possible to set limits and offsets on channels using the Limit and Offset dimmer curves.

Limit enables a maximum level to be set for the channel whilst retaining the normal linear dimming curve. When dimmer curve
is set to “Limit” the channel has a linear curve up to the maximum value rather than using the normal linear curve and then
stopping at the maximum value.

Offset enables an offset value to be applied to a channel – this can be useful if a moving light is not calibrated correctly or it has
been moved. When dimmer curve is set to “Offset” then the minimum value specifies the offset to be applied. When a channel
value exceed 255 then it wraps back to 0.

7.14 Dimmer curves

MagicQ supports 10 user dimmer curves that can be selected in the Patch Window, View Chans view.

User dimmer curves are specified in files of format csv (comma separated variable) with filename dimmercurveuser1.csv, dimer­curveuser2.csv etc. . . stored in the show/heads folder.

The files consist of 256 lines each with a value between 0 and 255. These files can be generated in a spreadsheet (e.g. Microsoft
Excel) and saved as csv format.

From v1.6.0.7 dimmer curves can have 16bit values (0..66535) instead of just (0..255). If any value in the user dimmer curve file
is over 255 then 16bit is assumed.

User dimmer curves are not stored into the show or settings files. Each MagicQ system that uses user dimmer curves must have
the curves stored in the show/heads folder.

In the CSV file the line after the last line of data (the 257thline) can hold a name for the curve which is then displayed in MagicQ.
The name has a maximum of 15 characters.

Dimmer curve files are read on startup of MagicQ – so you will need to reset MagicQ for new curves to be loaded.

7.15 Testing channels

To test channels in VIEW CHANS press the TEST CHANS soft button to enter test mode. In this mode the channel which the
cursor is on is set to the level configured on the TEST CHANS encoder. Use the cursor keys to move through different channels.
Test mode remains active until the TEST CHANS soft button is pressed again.

Channel testing works for both patched and unpatched channels. Note that for channels patched as LTP, the level of the Grand
Master does not affect the channel level and after test is turned off the channel remains at the test level. LTP channels can be set
to zero by pressing CTRL CLEAR.

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You can also test channels by moving to the appropriate channel and pressing the TEST SELECT CHANS soft button. The
channel will be set to the level of the Grand Master fader. Pressing TEST SELECT CHANS soft button again returns the channel
to zero. You can test multiple channels by using SHIFT and the cursor keys to select multiple channels and then pressing the
TEST SELECT CHANS soft button. Channels that are in test mode are highlighted in red.

Pressing Soft Button A (NEXT UNI or PREV UNI) soft button moves you up or down the window to the first channel of the next
or previous universe.

7.16 Changing the DMX address of heads

Heads (including Dimmers) can be moved to different DMX addresses as required. When they are moved all the programming
and palettes associated with them also moves to the new channels. In Patch, VIEW HEADS simply edit the DMX field with a
new address.

If you try and move to a location where there are already channels patched then MagicQ will prompt whether you wish to
continue and move the already patched channels aside. If you confirm YES the already patched channels will be moved to the
next free locations. If you confirm NO then no move will be performed.

Multiple heads can be moved at a time using SHIFT and the cursor keys. When making a change to multiple heads the change
defaults to an absolute change – the first head will be moved to the specified address and the next heads to the addresses
immediately following. To make a relative change enter a / after the new address - i.e. to move 4 heads from 1-1 to 2-1, but
keeping the relative DMX offsets between the heads, enter 2-1/. You can also specify an explicit offset to use, just like when
patching e.g. 2-1/20.

7.17 Patching a Head to multiple DMX addresses

The View DMX view in the Patch Window enables multiple DMX channels to be easily assigned to one head. Up to 5 additional
DMX channels can be set up for each Head in addition to the main DMX address. Remove additional channels by pressing
REMOVE and selecting the additional channel fields or by typing “u” (unpatch) instead of a DMX address.

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7.18 Unpatching a Head from a DMX address

It is possible to “unpatch” a head – i.e. to remove the association between the programmed data and a DMX address. The
programmed data for the head is maintained and the head can subsequently be patched to a new DMX address. To unpatch a
head move the cursor to the first DMX field in View DMX view and press REMOVE, or type “u”.

7.19 Patching scrollers

There are two ways to patch scrollers – the first method is to patch the dimmer and scroller separately – then the dimmer and
scroller will operate independently. Use the “generic dimmer” personality for the dimmer and the “generic scroller” personality
for the scroller.

MagicQ has enhanced support for scrollers, so that the colour scroll channel can be tied up with the dimmer channel in one head.

To use this support, patch a Generic Scroller With Dim. This will appear in the View Heads with the DMX address marked as
“virtual” and any DMX address you specified when you patched it will be ignored. Change to the View DMX view and specify
in the appropriate DMX columns the DMX address of the dimmer and the scroller.

The Generic Scroller With Dim is set up as a “Virtual” personality – i.e. the channels in the personality can be patched to
any location on MagicQ – unlike normal personalities where the channels are sequential from the DMX start address. In the
View DMX view, the DMX address fields are used to specify the addresses for each channel in the virtual personality – up to a
maximum of 5 channels. (For normal personalities these fields are used to specify multiple heads patched to one head.)

7.20 Editing Heads

You can modify the Head or create a new head in the Head Editor. Choose the head you wish to edit and then press the EDIT
HEAD soft button.

To quickly choose a head that you have already patched move the cursor to the head in the Patch Window, hold SHIFT and press
CHOOSE HEAD.

To quickly edit a head that you have already patched move the cursor to the head in the Patch Window, hold SHIFT and press
EDIT HEAD.

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7.21 Cloning (Adding extra heads / dimmers to a programmed show)

Cloning enables a show programmed with a certain number of heads to be expanded to use more of the same head type without
having to reprogram all of the show.

For example, if you have a show programmed with 4 MAC500s and you want to add 4 more MAC500s, then you can clone the
4 programmed MAC500s. All the Cues, Cue Stacks, Groups and Palettes that have the original 4 MAC500s will now have the
additional 4 MAC500s as well.

By cloning heads in this way you have a quick and easy approach to expanding your show. You can then programme some new
Cues and Cue Stacks that use the new and old heads individually.

To Clone heads

Enter the Patch Window and choose the view heads view. Select the heads you wish to clone using SHIFT and the cursor keys.
Note a new cloned head is created for each of the selected heads. e.g. selecting 4 heads when cloning will patch 4 more fixtures
each cloned to one of the 4 selected heads.

Then press the CLONE HEAD soft button.

Cloned heads are patched on the next free universe/channel in MagicQ, these can then be re addressed as needed.

There are several options when cloning heads. It is possible to choose whether both Palettes and Cues are cloned or just Palettes.

It is also possible to specify that FX are split when the heads are cloned, so that the new heads are part of a different FX from
the original FX. This function should be used with care when cloning multiple heads in order to avoid fragmenting the F X too
much.

7.21.1 Copy Head Programming

If you patch new heads into a show, without cloning it is still possible to then copy programming from other heads to the new
heads. To copy programmed data from one head to another press the SHIFT + COPY HEAD PRG soft button in the HEAD
VIEW, then select the source head followed by the destination head. All the Cues, Cue Stacks, Groups and Palettes that contain
the source head will be updated to include the destination head.

7.21.2 Patch Channel Copy

Another way to expand existing shows is to patch the new heads and dimmers but then in the Patch window to set a real time
channel copy from another already programmed channel. The value of the channel will always be that of the already programmed
channel. Any programming of the newly patched channel will be ignored. To set up real time copies, edit the Merge and From
Chan columns in the View Chans view of the Patch Window. Press ENTER in the Merge column to change it to "Copy" and then
set the From Chan column.

7.22 Morphing Heads (Changing Head type)

It is possible to morph one head type into another head type. The system will copy the programming from the old head type to
the new head type. The system takes into account the different pan and tilt ranges of the heads when copying pan and tilt data.

As no two heads are exactly the same, the programming will not create exactly the same looks as with the original heads. A
closer representation will be obtained by morphing a spot into a spot compared to a spot into a wash light.

If the new head types have more channels than the original head types then MagicQ morphs the heads but leaves them unpatched
– the user must then repatch the heads at a suitable location.

In the Patch Window, choose the new head type, then move the cursor to the head to change or select a block of heads using
SHIFT and the cursor keys. Press the MORPH HEAD soft button and confirm that the action is what is required.

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After morphing heads your groups, palettes, and cues will be updated to reflect the new head types.

7.22.1 Morphing multi element heads

MagicQ supports full morphing between multi element heads to single element heads and from single element heads to multi
element heads.

When morphing between multi element heads, if the new head has less elements than the original head then the excess elements
in the original heads will be ignored. If the new head has more elemeents than the original head then the excess elements in the
new head will be a repeat of the elements from the original head.

It is possible to morph from a Duplicated element head that is entirely made up of duplicated elements (no channels that are not
multi element) to multiple non duplicated heads - e.g. to split a Duplicated 10 channel LED fixture into 10 seperate RGB fixtures.

7.22.2 Morphing Heads with virtual dimmers

It is possible to morph between heads with inbuilt dimmers and heads with virtual dimmers. For example it is possible to morph
a RGB head with an inbuilt dimmer to a RGB head with a virtual dimmer. It is also possible to morph back from a head with a
virtual dimmer to one that has an inbuilt dimmer.

7.22.3 Morphing between CMY and colour wheel Heads

When morphing between heads with CMY/RGB and Colour Wheel to heads with only Colour Wheels, MagicQ now converts
the CMY/RGB data to Col Wheel rather than trying to map between the Colour Wheels. This ensures that shows programmed
with Cues using RGB palettes morph to Col Wheel palettes.

When morphing to heads with greater number of colour wheels or greater number of gobo wheels MagicQ now includes the
extra colour or gobo wheels channels in Palettes and Cues where the colour wheels or gobo wheels were previously used. This
enables easy updating of shows, for example when changing from heads with only 1 gobo wheel to heads with 2 gobo wheels.

7.23 Importing Heads

A quick way of patching heads is to import the heads from a file. MagicQ supports comma separated variable files (.csv) which
can be from Visualisers like WYSIWYG and VectorWorks or generated manually from spread sheets and text editors.

In Patch, View Chans press the IMPORT HEADS soft button and select a file in .csv format. MagicQ auto detects the contents
of the file recognising formats from Capture, WYSIWYG and VectorWorks.

Fixtures must have a DMX address or MagicQ may not be able to patch them. If no DMX address is provided then MagicQ
will check the head number to see whether there is a fixture already patched with that head number that matches the requested
number of channels. If no match is found MagicQ will choose a spare DMX address to patch the head.

If a Head is already allocated at the required DMX address then MagicQ will not patch a new head - however it will import
Visualiser XYZ data if available.

If no Head at the DMX address or head number is found then MagicQ will attempt to match the Headtype provided.

In WYSIWYG they need to have an Address and Universe in the Fixture Properties dialog however there do not need to be any
devices mapped in the device manager,

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7.23.1 Supported column headings

MagicQ supports a large number of column headings and will attempt to detect the contents of the file - e.g. whether it has come
from a specific Visualiser such as Capture, WYSIWYG, VectorWorks, or whether it is just a head list.

The column heading is the first row in the file, except in the case of Capture where the first rows are "Channel Report" - MagicQ
skips these and expects the next row to be the column headings.

Column headings are case insensitive.

The file can be delimited by semicolons (;) instead of commas (,). MagicQ detects the first occurrence of either to choose which
is the delimiter.

The column headings supported are:

Column Heading MagicQ Function Comment

Head
no,Headno,Hdno,Headnum,Channel,Spot
Head name,Hd
name,Headname,Hdname,Purpose
DMX,DMX no,DMXno,DMX
num,DMX num,DMX,Patch,Patch
Address,Patch Universe
Manufacturer,Man Manufacturer Tries to match MagicQ manufacturer
Type,Head type,Headtype,Hd
type,Hdtype,Fixture,Instrument Type
gel,colour,filter Gel Gel number - starting with L for Lee,

Pinv,P inv,Pan inv,Paninv,Pani,Pan i P Inv
Tinv,T inv,Tilt inv,Tiltinv,Tilti,Tilt i T Inv
Swap,Flip Swap
Chans,Num chans,Numchans,# of
Data Channels,Num channels
X,X Location X Pos
Y,Y Location Y Pos Note for Wyg/VectorWorks Y is

Z,Z Location Z Pos Note for Wyg/VectorWorks Z is

RotX,X Rotation X Rot
RotY,Y Rotation Y Rot Note for Wyg/VectorWorks RotY is

RotZ,Z Rotation Z Rot Note for Wyg/VectorWorks RotZ is

Head No

Name

DMX Patch Address and Patch Universe

used together

Head Type Tries to match standard MagicQ

names, Capture, Wyg names

R for Rosco. Otherwise MagicQ
colour numbers

Num Of Chans Used for checking type/mode

treated as MagicQ Z Pos

treated as MagicQ Y Pos

treated as MagicQ Z Rot

treated as MagicQ Y Rot

X, Y and Z position in MagicQ default to metres - this is the recommended values for import. When MagicQ imports from
CSV it checks the range of X,Y and Z position values and then auto detects the scale. For example, if the positions where in
millimetres - e.g. 7000,1000 - MagicQ would divide by 1000.

7.23.2 WYSIWYG

WYSIWYG R38 can export the positions and rotations of fixtures so that they can be viewed in MagicVis.

The columns "# of Data Channels" and "Fixture Options" or the columns "Hookup" and "Circuit Name" must be present for
MagicQ to detect it as a WYSIWYG file and import the patch correctly.

To get the fixture rotation correct go to the Data→Spreadsheet view in WYSIWYG, then click on OPTIONS → View. In the
View Options dialog select the Data Options tab and ensure that the RotX, RotY, and RotZ columns are checked. Click OK then
select FILE → Export and select .CSV to export the data. The data can then be imported into MagicQ.

MagicQ User Manual 64 / 455

If the DMX Universes are named numerically (for example 1 or 21) then they will be assigned to that MagicQ universe.

MagicQ will automatically swap Y/Z positions and rotations when importing WYSIWYG files.

7.23.3 VectorWorks

VectorWorks can output csv files with all the fixture parameters.

The columns "Channel" and "Symbol Name" or "Vertical Focus Angle" must be present for MagicQ to detect it as a VectorWorks
file and import the patch correctly.

The below table shows the exported column heads from VectorWorks required and their function within MagicQ

Vector works Column Heading Comment

Instrument Type this should be fixture manufacturer followed by_name

separated with an underscore e.g. "Clay

Paky_GoldenScan3"
Num channels the number of channels in the fixture
Universe should be a number starting at 1 for the first universe
Address should be a number between 1 and 512 to indicate the

DMX address within the universe
Channel should be a number between 1 and 65356 to indicate head

number
Purpose a text field that if present will be used as the Head Name in

MagicQ
X Position should be in metres - e.g. 1.1 represents 1.1 metres.

MagicQ will attempt to scale if it detects large values - e.g.

if the positions are in millimetres
Y Position should be in metres - e.g. 1.1 represents 1.1 metres.

MagicQ will attempt to scale if it detects large values - e.g.

if the positions are in millimetres
Z Position should be in metres - e.g. 1.1 represents 1.1 metres.

MagicQ will attempt to scale if it detects large values - e.g.

if the positions are in millimetres
X Rotation should be in degrees
Y Rotation should be in degrees
Z Rotation should be in degrees

Where possible X,Y,Z position should be in metres - e.g. 1.1 represents 1.1 metres. MagicQ will attempt to scale if it detects
large values - e.g. if the positions are in millimetres.

MagicQ will automatically swap Y/Z poitions and rotations when importing VectorWorks files.

To export from Vectorworks Vectorworks 2018 or later and MagicQ 1.7.9.4 or later

1. Set up Vectorworks Instruments: Check you have the "Number of Channels" field set to the mode you wish to use the
fixture in (this can be done manually or for newer instruments via the "Mode" drop down menu )

2. Set document preferences: to meters for shows under 100 metes wide, or centimeters for shows over 100 meters wide, MQ
will automatically move the decimal when it detects shows over 100 meters making it 1.00 meters (if this step is skipped,
patch and heads will still import but Vis positions will not be accurate)

3. Assign individual Channel Numbers, universe, and address fields in Vectorworks: in the object info panel for each fixture.
Channel number dictates the Head number when imported into MQ. if you use unit number for your head numbers in VW
it’s best to use the find and modify tool to copy the unit number field to the channel field before exporting the instrument
data (this can also be done after export in Excel)

4. Export from Vectorworks: File>Export>Export Instrument Data, Select the "ALL" box in the top right to add all fields to
the exported file, then choose Export and save the file.

MagicQ User Manual 65 / 455

5. Import that file into excel: follow the import window that pops up to be sure the imported document is formatted correctly

6. Edit Data if needed: in some cases, depending on instrument name, you may need to use the "Find/Replace" tool to edit
the instrument type to correspond with the head file name in MQ , Example: if your VW file has Martin Axiom’s in it,
listed as an Axiom, you will need to change the Instrument type in the spreadsheet to be "Martin_MacAxiomHybrid" or
the console will not be able to match the fixture in the spreadsheet to the proper fixture in the library (Tip: for large rigs
with a lot of fixture types, to save time, make all fixtures "Generic_Dimmer" then once you import the into MQ you can
morph those dimmers to the proper fixture types)

7. For countries that use comma as the decimal separator ensure Excel is set to use decimal places as "." not ",". Click File
> Options, then in the Excel Options dialog, click Advanced from left pane, then in the right section, the Editing options
group, uncheck Use system separator, then type decimal point into the Decimal separator box to instead of the decimal
point, and type nothing for the Thousand separator box.

8. Export from Excel; as a .CSV file, save to your show file or to a usb drive and copy it to your show folder on your console

9. Import into MagicQ: in Patch, select "View Channels" and then "Import Heads" there will be some feedback in the CMD
line to show it’s importing the heads,

7.23.4 Creating a head list

To create a CSV file from Excel use Save As,Other Format, Comma Separated Variable (.csv).

The first row of the file indicates which columns are present in the file. The next rows of the file contain the data for each head.

Headno,Headname,Dmxno,Headtype,Gel,Pinv,Tinv,Swap 0001,Spots,1-001,Generic_Dimmer,No col,no,no,no 0002,Spots,1-002,Generic_Dimmer,No
col,no,no,no 0003,Spots,1-003,Generic_Dimmer,No col,no,no,no 0004,Spots,1-004,Generic_Dimmer,No col,no,no,no 0005,Fin­ger L,1-005,Generic_Dimmer,R59 Indigo,no,no,no 0006,Finger L,1-006,Generic_Dimmer,R312 Canary,no,no,no 0007,Finger
L,1-007,Generic_Dimmer,R356 Middle Lavender,no,no,no 0008,Finger L,1-008,Generic_Dimmer,R27 Medium Red,no,no,no

7.24 Exporting Heads

MagicQ can export the contents of any window to CSV format and includes options to select which fields are exported. To export
the Patch this way open the Patch Window, View Heads and from the toolbar select File and Print Window, select the required
fields and then press Create CSV.

In older versions of MagicQ there was only the option to export with fixed column headings of Headno, Headname, Dmxno,
Headtype, Gel, Pinv, Tinv, Swap. In Patch, View Chans press the EXPORT HEADS soft button. MagicQ asks for a file name
and will save the file in the show folder.

7.25 VL5 type channels (split personalities)

MagicQ supports heads such as the Vari-lite VL5TMwhere the head functionality is split between different non­contiguous DMX addresses.

The personality for the main channels in the head includes the extra channels. The extra channels are then patched separately
and set to have their levels copied from the main channels.

For example for a VL5, patch the VL5 to the required DMX address for the main head. This will include a dummy dimmer
channel.

In Patch, View DMX set the address of the real dimmer channel in the second DMX field.

MagicQ User Manual 66 / 455

7.26 Merging with DMX input

MagicQ supports comprehensive merging of data from each of the input and output universes. Any output channel can be set to
output data from any received input channel, or to merge the two.

In addition channels can be configured so that they are passed through transparently unless MagicQ is controlling the channel
from the programmer or a playback. This provides a powerful over-ride mode.

To set a channel to output data received as input from another channel set the Merge field to “Input” and the From field to the
channel number you wish to get the data from.

You can easily set up a large number of channels by using SHIFT and the cursor keys to select multiple channels.

You can also set up a channel so that it outputs data from an input channel except when that channel is being controlled by a
playback or the programmer. Set the Merge field to “Over”.

To HTP merge the output with the received input use the “Merge“ option.

The “Mult” option enables another channel on the console to control the level of the output of the channel- this is useful with
RGB LED heads where you wish to make another channel control the overall level of the RGB.

The “Mul-In” option multiplies the received input with the calculated value for the channel. MagicQ can therefore be used as a
DMX modifier to modify the level of individual or groups of channels.

It is possible to set multiple channels all to copy or multiply by one channel. Use SHIFT and the cursor keys to select all the
required channels and enter <chan> / 0.

7.27 Customising Locate, Default, Highlight and Lowlight values

MagicQ allows the user to define the Locate, Default, Highlight and Lowlight values for each attribute of each patched heads.

The Locate values are the values that are used when the Locate button is pressed. The Default values are the values that are
output when a channel is not in the programmer and no playback is controlling a channel. Note that the Setup Window option
“Unused chans return to defaults" must be enabled for this mode of operation.

The Hightlight and Lowlight values are used when Highlight Mode is set to one of the Advanced modes.

By default, the Locate values and Default values are taken from the personality of the patched head – these typically put the
position to centre, beam open, colour white and intensity at full.

These values can be re-programmed by creating a Cue that represents the desired Locate Values and/or a Cue that represents the
desired Default Values. For Highlight and Lowlight create a Cue that represents the desired Highlight or Lowlight values.

Simply record a Cue into the Cue Store and then press the SET LOC CUE, SET DEF CUE, SET HIGHL CUE, SET LOWL
CUE soft buttons. The Cue is indicated as Default, Locate, Highlight or Lowlight by a D, L,H or Lo after the Q number.

MagicQ User Manual 67 / 455

Only one Cue can be set for each type - however one cue can be set for more than one type – e.g. one Cue can be set for both the
Default Cue and the Locate Cue.

It is not necessary to program all the different attributes into the Locate, Default, Highlight or Lowlight Cues. Simply program
the values that you want to be different from normal operation. For instance to record a default position with all heads positioned
towards FOH position, simply record a Cue with the FOH position data and press the SET DEF CUE soft button.

If you wish to change the Locate, Default, Highlight or Lowlight Cue then simply re-record the Cue. If you update Palettes used
in the Cue, or modify the Cue directly from the Cue Window then you may need to reset the Cue in the Cue Store before the
change takes place. Press the CLEAR DEF CUE and SET DEF CUE for the desired Cue.

7.28 Theatre Patch syntax

MagicQ supports a Theatre Patch option which changes the syntax used for patching to simplify patching (and re-patching) of
large numbers of dimmers.

The option is enabled in Setup,View Settings, Keypad, Keypad Syntax Theatre Patch. When this option is set to “yes” the keypad
can be used to patch a dimmer or moving light directly to a DMX address and head number – e.g.

10 @ 2 – 5 will patch head number 10 to Universe 2 channel 5.

7.29 Virtual Dimmers

MagicQ enables LED and other heads with colour mixing but no dimmer channel to have an associated virtual dimmer. This
allows the LED heads to be used as simple RGB fixtures with a dimmer. This development does not affect the internal pixel
mapping (Bitmap FX) which already has a virtual dimmer.

To add a virtual dimmer channel for a LED head (i.e. a head without a dimmer) simply patch a generic dimmer and set the head
number to the same head number as the LED head. The generic dimmer will then be shown with a ‘v’ after the head number to
indicate the association with the LED fixture. The LED head will then appear with a dimmer in the Intensity, Group, Outputs
and Programmer windows.

Note that virtual dimmers will only work if there are only 2 heads with the same head number – if there are more than 2 heads
with the same head number then each head will be treated as a separate head.

When MagicQ assigns a virtual dimmer in this way, in the Cue Engine it takes the value of the RGB (CMY) attributes from the
playbacks and programmer and then scales these values according to the value of the virtual dimmer channel.

Virtual Dimmers take effect at the Patch level rather than at the Programmer level. This means that the Output Window, View
Heads will show the virtual levels on the RGB channels (i.e. the RGB levels before the virtual dimmer is applied).

The Outputs Window, View Chans, View DMX will show the actual levels output to the RGB channels (i.e. the level after the
virtual dimmer is applied).

The full head can be selected using the head number. The title bar of the Group, Pos, Colour, Beam windows will show +v for
each head with a virtual dimmer.