Last post covered inputs. The title above tells you what this will cover: outputs. So without further ado, start up D-Show if it's not running, and let's begin.
Click on "OUTPUTS" on the bar across the top of the screen. You're now on the output page.
There won't be a lot to do on the output page most of the time. Think about what you do with outputs today. You turn aux sends up or down (usually up, because the band wants louder monitors), adjust the pan and fade on subgroups, and adjust your master volume level. Same concepts apply here.
Look at the faders across the bottom. You have several sections: two groups of Aux sends, PQs, matrix, groups, VCAs, and those lonely ones to the right are your mains.
We'll look at groups first. Groups are basically the same as subgroups on your analog board. Click on the fader for Group 1. "Grp 1" should show in the blue box in the upper left. Let's re-name it to "M Voc", for male vocalists. Click, type, and press Enter.
Now that we have that straight, let's look around. Your output fader is below the name. Below that are solo and mute buttons. Look to the right of those buttons. "Bus Assign" is how you'll get the groups into the mains (just like the "L-R" button above the subgroups on the A&H analog board). The pan knob is another step to the right.
Look up. Inserts. You can use one hardware insert and up to four software plug-ins to process the group. We won't, though. For now. If visions of compressors or drum plug-ins are running through your head, that's great--research what's available and post a comment.
What's that big gray area in the middle? It says it's a "31-Band Graphic Equalizer". You can EQ output groups. If you don't have a good reason, you probably shouldn't. But if you have free time during a rehearsal, you may want to play with this feature to see if you can come up with good reasons.
Tip: If you see a graphic EQ being used on an output, ask the person who set up the Show file why it's being used. Most likely it's not needed. But maybe you'll learn something.
Now look to the right again. Why does it say "Aaron" under "Members"?
Remember last time, we assigned Aaron to Group 1 (and 6). The software is helpfully letting you know that Channel 1 (named Aaron) is part of this group.
Try something. Switch back to the input page by clicking the INPUTS button at the top left. Select channel 25, and in the Bus Assign section (below the name box, on the right) click the button for Group 1. Now switch to the output page again. Very cool: "Ch 25" is now listed as a member of the "M Voc" group.
Guess what? Aaron just stepped in to say that his five brothers are going to be singing too. We'll put them on channels 31-35. We can set up their input channels later, but let's make sure they're all on the "M Voc" group--the easy way.
See the Multi-Assign button at the bottom of the "Members" section? Click it. Take a minute and look at the blinking light. Also, glance at the lower right corner. The software is helpfully letting you know you're in a special mode. Okay. Switch back to the inputs page. (Don't worry, we can explain proper workflow and notifications to Aaron later.)
Hmm, on the inputs page, you can see that channels 1 and 25 are blinking. That's interesting. But we have a job to do! Click on channel 31. It should start blinking. Click channels 32, 33, 34, and 35. Now switch back to the outputs page, and click the Multi-Assign button again. The new channels should show up in the Members section.
Now let's look at Auxes. Click on Aux 1. The screen should look very familiar. Remember last time, when we said Aux 1 would be the band monitor, and Aux 11 would be Aaron's personal monitor? Let's name them accordingly, as "Band" and "AaronPersonal" respectively. I'll wait while you take care of that.
Got it? Good job! Let's double-check our settings. Click on Aux 11. Notice anything funny? Take a look at the Members list. I guess we got distracted by how picky Aaron was about his exact monitor level, and forgot something important. He's not a member.
That's not something we can fix from here. Switch back to the input page. Click on Channel 1. Hmm, he's got levels set correctly. Ah, both Aux 1 and Aux 11 should be pre-fade. That's probably it. Click the "PRE" buttons on Aux 1 and 11. Hop back to the output page.
Now that Aaron's monitors are set up...wait a second. They're not set up. Let's go back to inputs and check this out. Levels are set, pre-fade is set, and it says "ON" under the knob. Try clicking the "ON" button. Look at that, it lights up! Let's turn on the send to Aux 11 as well. Now back to outputs yet again. Hooray, Aaron is a member of both Auxes now!
I'd like to say I planned this out, but I'd honestly forgotten to mention clicking the "ON" button in the first lesson. But it worked out very well, because it got you practice in switching pages and a lesson in troubleshooting.
Let's talk PQs real quick: you're not going to use them. PQ is one flavor of personal monitor control. It's the one we didn't go with. We're using the Aviom system. Apparently we're also delaying on using those until we get comfortable with the new equipment. I'll probably do a more detailed post on those in a few weeks. What's this all mean? It means ignore the PQ outputs.
And now let's talk Matrix outputs real quick: you don't use them now, do you? Right now, they're mostly pre-set to send a service to our AC venue. I suspect we'll do something similar in the new building. The short version: You can assign any Aux, any Group, any Main, or any of up to 8 user channels to a Matrix input. You have 8 inputs (plus mains) that you can set your levels on. So if you want a lot of "M Voc", a little of Aux 3, a bit of the left main out, and a dash of the choir mic, you could dial that in on Matrix 1. We have 8 Matrix outs, which is 6 more than we do now. Oh, the possibilities!
And a quick overview of VCAs: VCAs are kind of like groups, but much different. A group is a bus; a VCA is not. Now that we have that settled... Okay. Here's how it works. A group (or any bus) combines several signals into one signal. Think of it like a Y-cable, plugged in backwards. Multiple signals end up on one wire. Then that signal goes through a fader, and you can adjust the volume of several signals together. A VCA doesn't do that.
A VCA is more like a collection of under-employed garden gnomes moonlighting as tech assistants. One gnome watches the VCA fader. Each channel that is a member of the VCA has another gnome stationed by its fader. When you move the VCA fader, the chief gnome calls out "Up, boys, 2mm up!" (Importantly, garden gnomes tend to speak at frequencies very difficult for humans to hear, so they're not causing a disruption.) The lackey gnomes then push their faders up 2mm. (This also works if you pull the fader down.) The gnomes are giving you control over multiple faders at once, even though the signals don't get combined. I'm still not sure why you'd choose a VCA over a group--though simply not needing the signals to be combined on a single bus is probably the best reason.
Okay, that's it. We're done for now. Good work, by the way. You've learned to configure and double-check your Auxes, Groups, and VCAs. Plus, you've reviewed a bit of the Inputs page and how to do multi-assignment.
What's next?
I'm still planning more walkthroughs.- Patching (no more patch panel!)
- Presets
- Possible: Files and organization
Series:
- Intro and Inputs
- Outputs (and a bit more on Inputs) [this post]
- Patching
- Presets (and some Input bonus)
- Files and Organization
- ...future...
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