by Brad Schiller
Automated lighting consoles and the software that drive them are truly amazing. They are taking in the commands of the programmer, associating parameter data with DMX protocols, and processing all the data to distribute among various methods. The developers do their best to create standard buttons and routines that are useful to the majority of the users, however there are many processes that are unforeseen, overcomplicated, or simply forgotten. This is where the standard feature of macros becomes helpful. Macros can be very useful to the lighting programmer, but they can also limit knowledge of deeper console functions or even cause destruction and chaos. Understanding macros and how a lighting console makes use of them is very important to a lighting programmer.
Read the full article at http://plsn.com/articles/feeding-the-machines/the-joy-and-pain-of-macros/
