Lesson 3. Scenes and presets

In the first lesson we built scenes from four PARs — all of them at once, in a single colour. Quick, but rather crude. Today we learn to paint light more finely: we add moving heads, send their beams where we want them, get to grips with precise colour — and set up presets: building blocks a scene can be assembled from in three clicks.

You will need the project from the previous lessons (4 PARs and the scenes). Hardware is still optional — everything is visible in the visualizer.

Step 1. Adding moving heads — from the library

A moving head is a fixture on a motorised yoke: it turns horizontally and vertically, so the beam can be sent to any point in the room.

We go to Patch → “Add fixture” → this time we choose “From the library”. Type your model into the search — or take any similar one: for practice any of them will do. Added one — press duplicate, and there is your pair.

Fig. 1 — The library: we search for a moving head and add it
Fig. 1 — The library: we search for a moving head and add it

Step 2. Placing the fixtures on the plan (2D)

Switch the visualizer to 2D — the view from above, the plan of your venue. Drag the heads to where they will really hang — along the edges of the stage, for instance.

A selected fixture gets a small height panel: floor, stand, truss, ceiling. Let’s put the heads on a truss.

Fig. 3 — The 2D plan: the heads placed along the edges of the stage, height — truss
Fig. 3 — The 2D plan: the heads placed along the edges of the stage, height — truss

Go back to 3D — the heads are hanging and shining.

💡 Tip: the more accurately the fixtures are placed in the program, the more honest the picture on screen — and the fewer surprises at the venue.
Fig. 4 — 3D: the heads on the truss, the beams visible
Fig. 4 — 3D: the heads on the truss, the beams visible

Step 3. Selecting fixtures one by one (and highlighting them)

In the first lesson we selected the whole group with the “Pars” chip. Now a “Heads” chip has appeared next to it. And fixtures can also be picked one at a time: click — selected, click again — deselected. With several selected, the settings apply to all of them at once.

⌨️ A small trick: hold the H key and the selected fixtures flash to full. That is Highlight: in a room with twenty fixtures you can see instantly which ones you are driving.
Fig. 5 — Two heads selected; the group chips above
Fig. 5 — Two heads selected; the group chips above

Step 4. Colour — more precisely

The palette is right there — the quick colours. But next to it there is also a precise picker: click the colour swatch and the full palette opens, where any shade can be caught.

The channel faders below show what the colour is made of: red, green, blue. Need pinpoint accuracy — click the number above the fader and type the value in.

Fig. 6 — The precise colour picker plus the channel faders
Fig. 6 — The precise colour picker plus the channel faders

Step 5. Positions: aiming the beams with the pad

Select both heads. On the Position panel there is a square pad: drag the dot and the heads turn after it. Horizontally that is pan, vertically it is tilt.

Aim the beams at the centre of the dance floor. Move them around and watch in 3D how the beams travel across the room.

Caught a nice position? Let’s give the heads white and the PARs a deep blue wash… and save the scene as “Artist entrance”. No longer four identical patches, but a picture with depth.

Step 6. Presets: building blocks instead of setting up

The “centre of the dance floor” position is one you will use all the time. Twiddle the pad from scratch every time? No.

  1. Select the heads (the position is already set).
  2. The “Presets” tab → “+ Preset”.
  3. Name it “Centre”, category — “Position (Pan/Tilt)” → Save.

Done: that is a building block. At any moment, in any scene: select the heads → tap “Centre” → the beams snap into place.

Fig. 9 — Creating a preset: the name “Centre”, the category “Position”
Fig. 9 — Creating a preset: the name “Centre”, the category “Position”

Make a couple more positions — “Onto the stage”, “Into the room” — and a couple of colour presets (the “Color” category): your signature red, a warm white.

💡 Why all this: a new scene is now assembled like a set of bricks. Heads → the “Onto the stage” preset → the “Warm white” preset. PARs → “Signature red”. Four clicks and the scene is ready. With presets you stop adjusting and start composing — which is exactly how lighting designers work on the big consoles.

Step 7. The final scene of the lesson

Let’s build one more picture: the PARs give a blue wash, the heads throw white beams crosswise through the centre. We save it as “Finale”.

The scene list now holds a whole palette of moods: from a plain wash to three-dimensional pictures made of beams. Run them one after another and feel the difference from where we started.

Let’s sum up

Today we:

  • added moving heads from the library and placed them on the 2D plan;
  • learned to select fixtures one at a time and to highlight them with the H key;
  • got to grips with precise colour (the palette plus channel values);
  • aimed the beams with the position pad;
  • set up presets for positions and colours — and now scenes are assembled in seconds.

What is next: in the following lesson we come back to movement — a deeper look at chases, a proper friendship with the music and a tour of the ready-made effects, including the movement effects for our new heads.

Still have not installed SvetoMaster? Download it right now — and catch up from the first lesson!