Within the Cue List view, there is the ability for Moving Light Assistant to connect to a lighting console and automatically take photographs of every cue, or selected cues, in an imported Cue List.
The Moving Light Assistant Cue List is synchronised to the lighting console by MSC via a MIDI interface, and this feature must be configured. See Midi Show Control for more information.
Both the Follow Console and Auto Photograph toolbar buttons must be selected to enable automatic photography.
Selecting Cues to Photograph
The Auto column in the Cue List controls which cues will be photographed. Check the column for each cue you want to be photographed.
Contiguous or non-contiguous ranges of cues may be selected in the Cue List using the Ctrl and Shift keys, and checking just one ‘Auto’ box within the selected range. All the Auto boxes will be checked in the selected cues.
To select or deselect all cues for photographing, select any cue in the Cue List table and use the Select All or Deselect All commands in the Edit menu.
The state of the Auto checkboxes is saved in the Moving Light Assistant show file, and will be preserved if the show file is closed and subsequently re-opened.
Taking Automatic Photographs
- Ensure the lighting console and Moving Light Assistant are both correctly configured and linked via MSC over MIDI.
- Ensure the camera is connected and configured for automatic shutter control.
- Select the cues to be photographed in the imported Cue List by checking the relevant ‘Auto’ boxes.
- Enable Follow Console and Auto Photograph on the Cue List view toolbar.
- Run the cue or cues on the lighting console.
The Moving Light Assistant Cue List will synchronise to the current cue on stage. A cue progress task bar in the Cue List view will show the progress of the cue based upon the cue timing information held in the show file. When the cue is complete, the photograph will be taken. Continue to run cues on the lighting console to take more cue photographs.
When taking automated photographs, it is advisable to set-up the camera to take photographs as fast as possible, with the minimum of delay. Slow cameras may struggle to keep up in fast cue sequences, leading to photographs being associated with the wrong cues.
