Performing a Dimmer and Device Check with Highlight, Next, and Last

Next / Last / Select-All

Next & Last allow for a selection of Channels be finely-tuned quickly. When a number of channels are selected, [NEXT] and [LAST] can be used to go one way or the other through the Channels one by one. Level changes can be made along the way to specific channels and attributes can be changed for individual devices as well. Once complete, pressing [SELECT ALL] grabs control of the original Channel selection again.

Highlight

Highlight takes any Channel(s) selected and brings them to full intensity. Depending on how device templates are configured, automated lights tend to also go to open white for the color parameters and open for any gobo parameters. 

When multiple Channels are selected, they will all go to full intensity.

Highlight is enabled by pressing the [HIGHLIGHT] key, which will light up when Highlight is engaged. An indicator at the top of each display screen will also show if Highlight is engaged. Turning Highlight off can be done by pressing the [HIGHLIGHT] key a second time.

Using Highlight & Next/Last/Select-All in Tandem

With a number of channels selected, enable Highlight and then use [NEXT] and [LAST] to go through the Channels, checking each one, one at a time, to see if everything is lighting up like it is supposed to.

This is a quick way to check that all fixtures are working properly and no lamps have failed or cables come unplugged. It's also a very helpful way to track down a specific fixture if you need to find which Channel turns on "that one fixture" but nobody remembers what the circuit number is and only knows that it's "over there."

Having a good Channel Layout also helps, because when someone says they need to have "that one light over there" turned on but don't know the Channel #, the programmer can quickly grab control of all of the Channels in that area and flip through them with Highlight until the correct Channel is found. If the best you know is that fixture is on the Stage Right end of the Third Electric, flipping through the Channels to find the correct one only takes a couple moments.