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Store and update

The problem

You're watching cue 7 and the back washes are a bit too bright. You fix it in the programmer. Now where should that fix go?

  • Into cue 7? Then cue 7 gets a new value, even though the wash level was actually set back in cue 3 and only tracked into 7. The cue list gets a little messier, and cues 4 to 6 still have the old level.
  • Into cue 3, where the value came from? Then 3 to 7 all get the fix, which is probably what you meant, but you have to know where it came from.
  • Into the preset "Washes low"? Then every cue using that preset gets the fix.

And if cue 7 already contains other values: should your new values replace the cue, or be added to it?

The many store and update options exist because "save this" has several reasonable meanings.

The idea: Store writes to a place, Update fixes the source

Store writes your programmer into an object you name: Store Cue 7, Store Preset 4.2, an executor button. It takes what your programmer holds (by default only the active values), filtered by any active filter or world.

Update works the other way round. It starts from what's running: the active cues, called presets and running effects. It writes your programmer changes back to where those values come from. The Update menu lists what could be updated in three sections, Preset, Effect and Cue, and you choose.

The main choice is Original content only vs. Add new content:

  • Original content only: update values at their original location, possibly an earlier cue or a preset. Your fix to the tracked wash level lands in cue 3, where it was stored.
  • Add new content: also allow values that weren't there before, stored at the currently active location.
You are in cue 7 and change the spot from 80 to 60. The 80 was stored in cue 3. Cue 1 Cue 2 Cue 3 Cue 4 Cue 5 Cue 6 Cue 7 Store into cue 7 80 80 80 80 60 cues 3–6 still have 80; cue 7 gets a new stored value Update original content 60 60 60 60 60 the fix lands in cue 3, where the value lives; cues 3–7 follow where the change is written stored tracked
Store writes into the cue you name. Update with original content writes back to where the value was stored, so the cues that tracked it follow too.

Interpretation

That's why experienced programmers prefer Update for fixing a running show: the change goes where it belongs (the preset, or the cue the value tracks from), instead of piling up new values in the current cue. Use Store to create new cues and presets, or when you deliberately want the value in this cue.

When the target isn't empty: overwrite or merge

Storing into an existing cue (or preset, or group) asks what to do with what's already there:

Overwrite
Replace the content. Anything only stored in this cue is gone.
Merge
Add the new values; where both have a value, the new one wins. This is the usual choice for "add this to the cue".
Status Merge
Merge, and also store the values the running cue currently shows, including tracked ones, into this cue. The cue then holds the full state.
Remove / Release
Take values out of a cue, or store "this sequence lets go of the attribute". See Cues, sequences and tracking.

You can set defaults for all of this in the store options, and skip the question each time.

And how far should it track?

In a tracking sequence, a stored or updated value carries on into later cues. The Cue Only option (for both store and update) stops that: the change affects only this cue, and the console stores the old value into the next one. Tracking Shield is listed as a third choice next to them, but the manual doesn't describe what it does.

To verify in onPC: check 3

What goes into the store, exactly

The store options decide the source and the scope:

  • Data source: the programmer (default), the current output, or DMX input. Storing from output is a way to "grab what's on stage", including what the playbacks are doing.
  • Use selection: active values only (default), all attributes of selected fixtures, or Look (all dimmers, plus all attributes of everything that's on).

When it matters, and when not

  • Every show: Store, and Merge vs. Overwrite. Set your preferred default once.
  • As soon as you fix running cues: Update with Original content only, and Cue Only when a fix must not travel.
  • Status Merge, Look, storing from output: when you want to capture "what I see now" rather than "what I changed".

Sources