Assign your instruments to separate channels on your light board. Lighting instruments are plugged into circuits, which are the plugs that are in the grid where the instruments are hung. The circuits run to the dimmers, which control each light and send the command to turn on or off. The dimmers are attached by a control cable to the light board. Turning on channels sends the "on" or "off" signal to the dimmer.
Each dimmer is assigned a channel. Most boards default to a one-to-one patch. That is, Dimmer 1 will go to Channel 1. You can reassign dimmers to different channels in the "Setup" functions on the ETC boards. Press "Patch" to go to the channel patch display, then press "Dim [number]" and "Enter," then "Channel [number]" and "Enter". Repeat for all of the dimmers you want to patch. Each board is slightly different, so check your manual to make sure the steps are correct for your model.
Set the levels of your channels. Enter the channel number on the keypad, hit the "At" key, then the level you want the light. For example, if the key light for your singer is on Channel 15 and you want the light to be very bright, you would enter "15 At 75," which means Channel 15 at 75 percent of full brightness.
Most boards assume you are entering channel numbers when typing on the number pad. Because the default is often channel, you usually do not have to press the channel key before entering the channel number.
Repeat this step until you have all of the channels set for the look you want on stage.
Record your cue. Once all of your levels are set, you can record this look to the board's memory. Hit "Record," then "Cue [number]," then "Enter."
For example, if you had set the look for your show's opening, you would press "Record, Cue 1, Enter."
The timing of the cues has a default setting of 5 seconds, meaning that most cues will fade in and out over 5 seconds. You can make this longer or shorter. For example, you can make your blackouts instantaneous or make a sunrise cue last for several minutes.
After you record your cue, the board will prompt you to enter a "time up" and "time down." Type in the times you want, then press "Enter."
Keep recording your cues until they are completed for your show.
Set up your submasters. Many boards have sliding levers called submasters, which can control several lights at once. These are useful if you are programming for a concert or similar event and you don't have time to write individual cues. For example, you can assign all of your front lights, all of the lights on a specific area of a stage, or lights of the same color to a submaster. Many lighting designers assign house lights and work lights to submasters so they can be quickly turned on if needed.
To record a submaster, first turn on all of the lights you would like on that sub. Hit "Record," then the button at the base of the submaster you are recording to, then press "Enter."
For example, if you want to put all of your house lights on Submaster 1, you would first turn on all of the channels that control those lights. Hit "Record", touch the button at the bottom of Submaster 1, then hit "Enter."
Check all of your cues. Once you have completed your cue list, load it and run through it to make sure everything is as you want it. Hit "Load Cue [number]," then press the "Go" button. This will run the cue. If you keep hitting the "Go" button, you will run through all of your cues in sequence.