Controlling fades manually on Express consoles

Manual override

Manual override allows you to use the fader sliders to take manual control of fade levels. When you take manual control of cue playback, moving the fader slider controls the fade.

Leave the fader sliders at 10 before pressing [Go] to play cues back as recorded.

When you move the fader sliders below 10, the cue runs until it reaches the slider setting. You can set the slider before you play the cue, or move the slider after the fade starts. The fade stops when it reaches the slider’s level, and the slider then controls the fade. For example, if you set the sliders at 8, the cue will play until it reaches 80 percent of its recorded levels, then give you manual control.

Set the sliders at 0 before you press [Go] to take manual control of fade from the beginning of cue.

Hint: If you start a cue, and the performers skip ahead to the next cue, you have two options for speeding up to the next cue. If you do not need the current cue to reach its full intensity level settings, press [Go] to interrupt the current cue and begin the next one. However, if you need the current cue to reach its full level settings, push the sliders down and then back up to 10 immediately. Then press [Go] to start the next cue.

Once the fade is complete, the cue is no longer controlled by the fader.

Rate override

Rate override allows you to control both the fade’s rate and percentage of completion. When you play back a cue using rate override, the console controls the percentage of completion, but you control the rate.⁵⁸

Rate override allows you to play back a cue faster or slower than the rate at which it was recorded. The trackpad adjusts the fade rate.

Fade rate is expressed as a percentage. A cue with a fade rate of 100 percent plays back at its recorded fade time. A fade rate of 300 plays the cue back three times faster than its recorded fade time. A fade rate of 50 plays the cue back half as fast as its recorded fade time. For example, if you record a cue with a 10 second fade time, a rate of 200 causes it to play back in five seconds. A fade rate of 50 causes it to play back in 20 seconds.

You may take control of a cue’s fade rate while the cue is running. In addition, you may press both [Rate] keys to control rate of both fades.

Follow this example to place a cue in a fader under rate override:

⁵⁸ When finished with the manual rate override, you can record the modified fade rate into the cue if you wish. See Using Update to modify fade rate.