Welcome to the Quick Start Guide

Hello and welcome to the Quick Start Guide.

In the following chapters we are going to have a guided look at some of the most used functions in the grandMA2.

This is a more personal guided tour through the grandMA2 software and I (the author) will guide you (the reader), writing in a more direct and easygoing manner than the rest of this manual. I hope you will enjoy it.

We are not going to spend time on how to connect or configure a console or onPC in this guide.

We will begin where everything is up and running. If you need help setting up the console before this guide, please have a look at the First step topics. If you need help with installing and running your onPC, please have look at grandMA2 onPC details or the Introduction.

Preface

This guide is written using primarily the grandMA2 onPC. The thought is that most users that go thru this, is on the onPC platform. If there is any difference in how to operate the onPC or console, then it will be explained.

A mouse/trackball is recommended. Often the guide will say something like "click the button". This is the same as tapping it on a console. "Right click the fixture number" is the same as first pressing the Edit key and then tapping the fixture number on a console. You can use the trackball or an external mouse on the console, it is all up to you.

If you are using the onPC, then you are going to work a lot on the "virtual" screens. If "screen 1" is mentioned, then it is the one on the Command section - buttons on the right hand side. If the onPC is running in "MultiScreen" mode (onPC options), then it is your main window and you will not see a Command button on the right side. You can access the executors by tapping the Executor 1 - 15 101 - 115 buttons in the menu on the right side. The different other screens can be accessed by tapping the relevant buttons in the right hand side menu.

At some point we need to use the big main executors. On the console it is the two 100mm faders and the three big default buttons below the faders. On the onPC you can find the same faders and buttons by tapping the Masters button - also in the menu on the right side.

It is recommended that you read this online, since this is the most up to date version. But you can also create this as a PDF and print it. But you could save the paper and maybe just take the PDF with you and read it on your favorite electronic platform instead.
One favorite platform could be the console or onPC where this guide is available in the help system - and then you do not need to create a PDF.

The Quick Start Guide is meant to be read from start to finish and it is meant for beginners. If you are looking for help on a specific topic you should try to have a look at the menu on the left or search for it in the online manual.

To get the best result you should try to do precisely what is written. If you change something that is not described you might get a different result - and then you might get sad and depressed and lighting should be fun :-)

Markup in the Quick Start Guide

In this guide there are different markups of different situations.

Even though this is written for onPC there is going to be a lot of (virtual) button presses. If you should press or click keys then it is displayed like this: Store Cue 1 Please.

If we are just talking about a key, then it will be written in single quotes like this: The 'Store' key.

If it is an area on the screens you will need to click or press then it is written like this Internal. This could be tabs in menus or a button on the screen.  

If we are talking about a term, then it will look like this: Store is a function to save something. 

If you need to use a keyboard and write something in the command line (we are going to look at what this is later) the it will look like this:

All input like this should be executed with a Enter on your keyboard. This is not displayed. It is the same as the Please key. It is not a visible command - it is the key that executes the typed command. There is a default keyword displayed in the command line input above. It is the word inside the square brackets. You do not need to write this it is already there - it might be different than the one displayed above.

A feedback from the system is displayed like this:

Notice that the Please or Enter is not displayed.

If you need to write something on the keyboard that is not for the command line, then the keyboard input will look like this: store cue 1.

 

 

So, let us begin. Make sure the onPC or console turned on and running, then go to the next page.