Chase Playback

Playing Back a Chase

To fire a chase, raise the fader of the playback. (You can also use the pushbuttons to Flash or Swop the chase). The chase will start to run. The bottom line of the screen relating to the playback fader shows the current cue number and speed of the chase.

The HTP (intensity) channels in the chase will be controlled by the fader; if fade times are programmed, the fade will stop at the fader level. The other channels (LTP) will be set as soon as the fader moves above zero according to the fade times programmed in the chase.

While the chase is running, the area of the screen above the wheels shows details of the chase steps:

You can temporarily pause the chase by pressing the Stop button near the wheels. Press Go to resume playback.

There are many options you can set to determine the way the chase runs and these are described in the rest of this chapter.

Connecting a Playback for Control

When you fire a chase or a cue list, the wheels and Stop/Go buttons are automatically allocated to control the playback - this is called connecting the playback. For a chase, the wheels control Speed and Crossfade. If you have more than one playback running, you can choose which one is connected to the controls using the Connect/Cue button (this button may also be labelled Connect or Cue depending on the console).

• Connect a different playback to the controls by pressing Connect/Cue then the Select button of the playback you want to control.

• Disconnect a playback from the controls by double pressing Connect/Cue.

• You can turn off the Auto Connect option in the Wheels tab of the User Settings if you don't want to connect to a playback when you fire it. You will have to use the Connect/Cue button to manually connect the playback for control if you do this.

• There is a further option Auto View on Connect in the Wheels tab of the User Settings which will automatically open the view window for a playback when you fire it. This is useful to keep the correct view open as you swap between chases.

Normally if you change the speed or crossfade of a chase on the wheels, the new setting is saved. However you can set this change to be temporary, so that when the show is reloaded the speed and fade will go back to the previously saved settings. Go to User Settings (Avo + User Settings), in the Times tab of User Settingsset the option Connected View Sets to Temporary Speed. You can still save a temporary speed by pressing Save Temporary Speed in the Set Times menu.

Setting Speed and Crossfade for a Chase

The left wheel is assigned to control the speed of the chase it is connected to. The speed is shown in Beats Per Minute (BPM) on the display. You can also enter a speed from the keypad as described below. The last speed you set on the wheel is always remembered, you do not have to tell Titan to save it.

Crossfade is the "slope" between cues; with a crossfade of 0, the fixtures snap instantly to the next cue, but with a crossfade of 100, the fixtures spend the whole cue time fading to the next cue. With a crossfade of 50, the fixtures delay for half the cue time and fade for the other half of the time.

You set the crossfade and speed as follows:

1. Press Edit Times from the top level menu then the Select button of the chase.
2. To set the crossfade, press XFade and type the fade from 0 - 100. 0 = no fade (the chase will "snap"), 100 = max fade (the chase will move continuously from step to step).
3. To set the speed, press Speed, type the new speed, then press Enter. The speed can be set in Beats Per Minute (BPM) or seconds depending on the Tempo Units setting in User Settings.

There are other options you can set for the chase from this menu including Fixture Overlap, which are described in the Chase Timing.

You can set individual times for each cue in a chase and unlink cues from each other so they wait for you to press the Go button. This is done using the Playback View, or the Unfold function which is described in Editing a Chase.

You can select whether the chase speed is displayed in seconds or in Beats Per Minute (BPM). Press Avo and User Settings, then press Tempo Units to set the option to Tempo Units Seconds or Tempo Units Beats Per Minute (BPM).

You can also allocate a Speed Master to the chase which will allow you to modify the chase speed during playback, see Speed and Size Masters.

Manually Controlling the Steps of a Chase

You can pause a chase, if the chase is connected to the wheels, by pressing the Stop button next to the wheels. Press the red Go button to resume playback of the chase.

While the chase is stopped you can use the Prev Step/Next Step buttons (← and → on some consoles) next to the Connect/Cue button to move to the next or previous step. The programmed fade time will be used when moving between steps, unless you enable the option Chase Snap in the General tab of User Settings, or press Snap button if the console has one.

You can also configure the blue and grey buttons of the playback handle to be Stop and Go. This uses the Key Profiles function.

1. Hold Avo and press Edit Current Key Profile.
2. If you are using the default [Key Profile] which is not editable, you will be prompted to add a new profile.
3. Press Chases then choose either the Blue key or the Grey key.
4. Select Go or Stop from the list of functions. Then press Exit and set the function for the other key if required.
5. Press Exit to continue using the console.

Changing Chase Direction

The Prev Step/Next Step (← and → on some consoles) buttons next to Connect/Cue set the direction of the connected chase. If fitted, the ↔ double-ended arrow button sets bounce mode where the chase will run to the end then reverse. The Review key sets the chase to random.

Jumping to a Step

You can jump directly to a step in a chase by pressing Connect/Cue, then typing in the desired step number, then pressing Enter or softkey A. Alternatively at the top level menu you can type the step number then press Connect/Cue.