Welcome
Why Use Prepare?
Section titled “Why Use Prepare?”All the essential data for starting a show file is contained within a drawing, whether created by you or provided by a technical service provider. So why enter everything twice? You can set up your desk in just a few minutes and begin working immediately!
With prepare, you can easily create patches, groups, layouts, and various types of presets in seconds. It uses the coordinates of your fixtures and creates live timing presets on grandMA desks. The ideal starting point is a CSV file from Vectorworks, Wysiwyg, Depence or Capture, which includes all necessary information such as fixture ID, patch, XYZ coordinates (position and rotation), function 1, and position2. However, it also works if you only have the coordinates. Any other CSV file can be imported with your own column mapping, and you can also use an mvr-file as a base — be aware that depending on the program, some fields might be empty.
You can download an existing layout or the whole patch from the desk to build timing presets. Additionally, prepare includes several useful tools to assist you beyond its main features. It’s beneficial to keep this program running during programming because you might come up with new ideas for delay presets, effects, or gradient presets. However, you don’t need the program during your show, as all the data will already be in your desk!
Features of the software
Section titled “Features of the software”- Compatible with grandMA2 and grandMA3
- Patch your console with a single click
- Create groups based on Fixture Type, Position, Function or your own templates
- Generate single layouts, multiple layouts, SubID layouts and clean Straight/FX layouts with one click, including all sub-fixtures/instances
- Timing presets, values and effects, including all sub-fixtures/instances, in 14 forms per origin — including a free Path you can draw yourself
- Custom easing curves
- Gradient presets: load two presets from the console and create a gradient between them — or many at once with Batch and Multi-Gradient presets
- Edit, filter and export your data with templates in the Show Data view
- FTP/SFTP browser for uploading and downloading files (such as shows, macros, profiles, etc.)
- Explore tools designed to accelerate your workflow — check them out here
Workflow
Section titled “Workflow”- Edit your CAD file and export it as a CSV, or use your mvr-file. Discover what steps to take for your app here.
- Open the prepare application.
- Select the grandMA version (MA Mode) and adjust the other options in the Settings tab.
- In the prepare tab, press Import from File on the Start view and choose your CSV/mvr file.
- Match the various symbols in the CAD file with the Fixture Types on the console.
- Create everything effortlessly! 🚀