elektraLite P100 Manual Part Two - Manual (Page 67)

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Feature Preset. Feature presets are where you "hold" features that you are going to use a lot. Once
you have made a feature preset, you can use it on any quantity of fixtures. Having attached it to a
fixture or fixtures then you can save the resultant "look" as a cue.
In plain English, for example: say you use the 4th gobo with the 5th color for your intellabeams, and
you want this saved as a feature preset. Just set up one intellabeam with these values only (all other
feaures should have their values cleared in other words they all should have the "---" in the display
beside the features). Then store this as feature preset 1. That's it.
In fact to set up feature presets you don't even need a fixture attached to the CP-100. If the CP-100
supports the colors and gobos etc. for the fixture you are using then you can simply type in "gobo 4
enter" and "color 5 enter".
Having created the feature preset say the lighting designer calls for the 4th gobo with the 5th color
for 8 other (different) intellabeams. All you do is add the feature preset to these different intellabeams.
The command structure can be as simple as "add feature preset 1 to fixtures 1 thru 8" but the CP-100
also supports the "and" button as well, for more complex numbering! For example "add feature preset
1 to fixture 1 thru 4 and 12 and 56 thru 58".
The reality of feature presets is the way you make it work for you! It is there to save you time and to
speed up the whole programming process. In fact, you should make a copy of your feature presets
because they could be used for your next show.
Some simple advise. Make feature presets 1-199 for color. Make feature presets 200-299 for gobos.
Make feature presets 300-399 for (if you have them in your fixtures you using) prisms. And so on.
You may not use all the block of feature presets up for this show but you'll add more as you do more
shows with different fixtures. You'll need to leave a good size block for color feature presets. For
example in the Var*lite VL5 /6 manual there are 32 colors with dmx values provided as a basic list.
That's 32 feature presets used for one fixture type alone. But remember two things. First, once you
have recorded them once and provided you make a disk copy, you've got that forever. You never have
to do it again. Second, you can do most of this programming at home, the CP-100 is light and
compact so you can put it on you lap while sitting in your favorite comfortable chair! Try doing that
with just about any other moving light console out there. On second thoughts don't bother!! I never
understood the point of weight lifting!!
So, how does a feature preset differ from a preset. A regular preset (which most moving lighting
console have) has one major drawback: it is fixture dependent. What do we mean by this? Well, when
you record a preset you record which fixtures you want that preset to work. So you have the front of
house truss 4 center I-beams in blue and you have recorded that as preset 10. Now the lighting
designer asks you to put the 4 I-beams from the back truss in blue. You're completely "out of luck"
unless you recorded another preset for those 4 back truss I-beams. In other words, presets are fixture
dependent. Feature presets are not fixture dependent. You use a fixture to help you create the feature
presets of color, gobos, prisms, etc. but you are not locked into that fixture. Instead once you have
made your feature preset palettes of colors, gobos etc then you add them to whichever fixtures you
want. That is the raw power of feature presets. Remember this comforting fact too: you have the
possibilty of making 1000s of feature presets and there is no restriction on how many you want as
colors, gobos, iris, shutter, dimmer etc. Now try that fact out on lighting consoles costing as much as
four times more than the CP-100.