Using the built-in chase generators

Artist contains loads of automated features to enable super-quick programming of any chases and patterns required. Chases can be applied to any parameter that the fixture contains and multiple chases can operate at once, all at independant rates, with different triggers.

Firstly select the fixture group that you wish to set a chase on. The chase tab is found in the fixture control panel (its is best to expand this window during the programming phase, so that it takes the full width of the lower portion of the screen. Click the arrow head to expand and contract the window size). Click the lower tab marked 'chase' and the window will show the chase screen.

The inset window shows all the parameters that the selected fixtures have in them. By clicking the 'on' button we can start the chase running, lets demo this using our group of mac250s. So to chase the dimmers, click the 'on' button next to the dimmer parameter, so the button goes red.

The chase will now run with the parameters defined in the left hand side of the window. The rate slider controls the speed of the chase steps in seconds, the 4 vertical buttons are the range controls affecting over what time range the slider operates in.

The tick box parameter is linked with the red/black pyramid icon, this controls how the chase crossfades between steps. Ticking the box changes the mode of the rate slider to the adjuster for this function. When the box is showing a red/black triangle the chase will smoothly crossfade. at the other end of the range, the box will fill completely red, indicating that the chase will bump one step to the next.

The 'level' fader controls the highest level of the chase that's running, for example, a dimmer chase that has its level reduced to 50% will, unsuprisingly, output a chase with a maximum level of 50%. Now the clever bit! Should you require a background level to the chase, switch the tab back to the main fixture parameter window and increase the level on the dimmer slider (for example, 25%) this will pile-on to give a chase that goes to minimum of 25%, but ramps up to 75% at its maximum. This can be extremely useful in producing some great effects.

The right hand grid control also has a number of options to define the type of chase that can be made. The first option that can be changed is the ramp field, clicking on the relevant line will expand a dropdown box that contains a number of options. The default state is linear, however sine and parabolic curves can also be applied to the crossfade steps here. Experimentation is the key here, sine 1 will give a nice braking effect to moving mirrors at the end of the fade. Parabolas will give either a pulsing effect or a decay effect to generic parcan chases. But have a play and see is the best idea

The next option that can be altered is trigger, this controls how the chase steps from one step to the next. The default is auto where the steps are at a preset regular rate, but options allow for audio triggers on bass, snare, hi-hat, and also from the internal BPM (beats per minute) calculator. This will track the incoming audio input and sample the BPM rate, and ensures that the chases will always be in time with the music input. Double times, half times and other such settings allow a bit more flexibilty in the auto-triggering of chases. The decay options allow sound to light functions, where the decay speed is set using the rate slider. The flag pulse options are for building chases using manual triggers for step advance, these can be assigned to keyboard hotkeys or external midi input keys.
 

Direction controls the direction of the chase. Random being very useful to reduce repetition.

The chase option is where the actual chase type is defined. A popup window will appear on clicking, and contains the dropdown box of the different chase types.

A word of explaination about the injector and divisor options.
A injector of 1 would produce a normal chase, ie 1,2,3,4. An injector of 2 would make a two channel chase, ie. 1, 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, 4.
A divisor divides the number of fixtures in the group to produce a ganged chase, ie. A divisor of 1 gives the result 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. A divisor of 2 gives a result 1-5, 2-6, 3-7, 4-8.

When your happy with your chase, store into a cue using the master programming window as if storing any other cue.