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WORKING WITH MEMORIES
The SD3 provides four types of memories: presets, chases, scenes and shows. Presets and
chases are used as building blocks along with static channel levels to create scenes. Shows are
simply scene lists. All four memory types can be assigned to playback faders or called up
directly by selecting their memory page and number.
RECORD
To the far right of the six function switches is the record switch. This is used to start the record
process for all of the memories as well as playbacks. The LED above the record switch will
flash whenever you are in record mode.
SOLO
To the left of the record switch is the solo switch. This switch’s function can vary depending on
what you are doing. For memory playback, this switch only affects scenes as explained in the
scene chapter below.
CLEAR ALL CHANNELS
Before creating a new scene it is usually a good idea to clear out the scene edit memory and
zero all of the channels. To do this press the blackout switch and hold it down for about a
second until the LED goes out. Use this function often when you are programming new scenes
in order to start with a clean slate. If you have programmed a home scene, it will be loaded
into the scene buffer automatically after the clear all procedure has taken place. A home scene
is useful for creating a default starting point for new scenes. Refer to the Menu chapter for
more information on how to select a home scene.
SCENES
A scene is a recording or snapshot of the entire stage. Show Designer keeps track of all the
actions you perform to make the stage appear as it does. All of the actions that affect the look
of the stage such as changing channel levels, calling a chase or calling a preset, are saved in
the scene buffer so that you can later record these actions as a scene. This method of
programming also allows you to recall a recorded scene, modify it and then resave it as a new
scene or resave it to the same location allowing quick edits. There is no special edit mode on
the SD3, you are always in edit mode for scenes.
Once you have a look on stage that you want to save as a scene, press “record”, its LED will
flash. Next press “scene”, its LED will also flash. The page display will light and any number
locations that already contain scenes will also light. You can enter a name for the scene as well
as a crossfade time. Use the cursor switches to move the cursor under each character of the
name, then use the + or - switch or data wheel 1 or 2 to modify the name characters. You can
also use an external keyboard to enter the scene name. Move the cursor under the fade time or
use data wheel 3 to change the crossfade time for this scene. You can also use a keyboard to
enter the fade time. Fade times are in minutes, seconds, and tenths of a second, displayed as
MM:SS.T, where MM is minutes, SS is seconds and T is tenths of a second. The maximum fade
time is 99:50:9 or just under 100 minutes.
To record the scene, select the page and scene number. You can use the page switches to
select pages 1 to 99 and the number switches 1 to 48. This will give you up to 4752 scenes. If
you select a scene number that is already lit, a message will appear asking if you want to write
over the existing scene. Press “yes” or “no”.