grandMA3 User Manual Publication

What are Fixtures

grandMA3 User Manual » Patch and Fixture Setup » What are Fixtures
Version 2.1

Fixtures are the different devices that can be controlled by the grandMA3.

Fixtures are added using the patch menu. Each fixture is a row in the patch menu. Each row has some settings organized in columns. Two of the columns are Fixture Type and  Mode. Fixture Type is the definition or description of the physical fixture and the DMX definition for the fixture might be separated into different modes. Each fixture type can have several different modes. Only one mode can be selected for each fixture in the patch. Read more about editing and creating fixture types in the Fixture Types section.

Fixtures contain different Attributes or Parameters. The parameters can have different values. Individual parameters are the ones manipulated when controlling the fixtures' attributes. For instance, changing the dimmer attribute for ten fixtures changes the dimmer parameter on each of the ten fixtures. Read more about attributes in the Attribute Definitions topic.

Fixtures in the grandMA3 are selected using an ID. There are 11 different ID Types. These ID Types can be used to organize the fixture list. Five of the ID Types are Universal, Fixture, Channel, MArker, and Multipatch - they are locked and cannot be renamed. Universal is a fixture type that is automatically created and should not be edited manually. Multipatch (MP) ID type is a special type used to create multi-patch versions of a fixture - learn more in the Add Multipatch Fixture topic.
The remaining six ID types can be renamed to match the needs of the show. These are called Custom ID because they can be customized. The default names are Houselights, NonDim, Media, Fog, Effect, and Pyro. Each of these is a keyword. Renaming them changes the corresponding keywords. Read about the ID type keywords following these links: Fixture, Channel, Universal, Houselights, NonDim, Media, Fog, Effect, Pyro, MArker, and Multipatch.

A fixture can have a Fixture ID (FID) and one other ID Type (CID) with the same or a different ID number. A fixture needs at least one ID to be operated.

Fixtures are added to a stage. In a new empty show, there is a standard stage (Stage 1). More stages can be added to organize the setup. Read more about Stages in the Stages topic and about placing fixtures in the Position Fixtures in the 3D Space topic.

Fixtures can have Class and Layer information. These are two different ways to organize or group the fixtures. Read more in the Classes and Layers topic. The patch menu can be filtered to hide or show fixtures, for instance, using specific classes or layers.

Another way to organize the patch is to add fixtures as a "child" (structurally below a "parent") to another fixture. A special Grouping fixture is very useful for this. It is an "empty" fixture in the generic manufacturer group. This can be useful if there are many fixtures of one type, for instance, 100 LED panels. A grouping fixture would be added to the patch and the LED panels are added inside or below the grouping fixture. The grouping fixture can have an ID. Selecting this ID then controls the LED panels inside or below the grouping fixture. An example of this structure can be seen in the demo showfile.

Fixtures also need to be patched to a DMX address in the grandMA3. If it does not have a DMX address, then the system does not know where to send the parameter values.

Example 1

A row is added to the patch menu. A Robe MegaPointe is assigned to the row. Now the fixture exists in the patch menu. The fixture needs an ID to be able to be selected and controlled. The fixture gets FID (Fixture ID) 1. Now the fixture can be selected using the Fixture 1 command. For the fixture to react it needs to have the same DMX address as set in the fixture itself and it needs to be connected to a DMX port set to the correct universe. The fixture gets address 3.54. The universe number is 3 and the DMX address in that universe is 54 - this needs to match the fixture setting.

Example 2

A row is added to the patch menu. A generic dimmer (8 bit) is assigned as the mode. The fixture is a part of the building and is used for house lights. The ID Type is changed to Houselights and CID (Channel ID / Custom ID depending on the ID type) is changed to 101. It does not get an FID. It can now be selected by pressing Channel three times to get the houselights keyword and the numbers 1 0 1.

The fixture gets the Patch address 1.101 (universe 1, address 101).

Hint:
The channel key is used to get all other ID types than Fixture. Pressing it multiple times toggles through the ID types.