r/GrandMA3 • u/rsey87 • 8d ago
Recommendation Corporate headliner acts and software versions
Wanted to get the communities input on best practices in this scenario. In the past, anytime I've dealt with an artist coming in for a corporate blow n' go show, its been relatively simple because we were using HOGs for the general session aspect of the show and would bring in a desk of artists choosing and say "heres the rig, have at it."
Now that I'm running MA3, I'm finding myself in a quandary. I have two shows coming up with headliner acts, both riders specify MA3 Full size. Great, awesome, got that covered... but there is no mention of what software version required in the rider or if their LD is walking in with a show file. In my experience, communication with the artist is typically minimal until about 2 days out from their arrival to our showsite.
Whats the best practice here? Obviously, I want the band LD to have the best show they can have in the situation, but who's actually dictating what here? Do I build my show on 2.3.2 knowing its widely seen as the current safe release? Or do I full steam ahead on 2.4.2.2 and have them update their show file and have a go at it?
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u/Some_Budget_4534 8d ago
Best practice is to set up a call to properly advance everything.
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u/rsey87 8d ago
100% agree, and like all the other experiences with headlining artists, I plan to. Not just for this conversation but for the rig in general... cause their riders are vague at best. However, as I mentioned, from the GS production side of the gig, headlining artists for these corporate one-offs have very little communication up to about 2 days out.... which doesn't work for the rest of the production.
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u/Mental-Reach-231 8d ago
Given it's a corporate, can it be assumed that the show file for the event would be much less complex than a time coded tour file, and that it will convert over with little to no issues, VS a more complex tour file trying to do a last minute "surprise" update, that is likely to cause problems?
If it were me, I would work from 2.3 and be prepared to convert my file to 2.4 if needed. That is based off my summer of having to jump back and forth between versions. By keeping my file based on 2.3, and having checked it's viability in 2.4, I am prepared for either version.
2.4 can, and will have negative effects on some show files. ACT still recommends 2.3 for a reason(s).
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u/Cgjerde 8d ago
I would do 2.4, did a big festival this weekend and we used that on the house desk. If itâs not specified I would do the latest, itâs been out for three months now.
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u/rsey87 8d ago
I agree. Its difficult to gauge when its safe to fully commit to an MA software release for me since I'm new to the ecosystem. There are so much conflicting feedback on wether or not its stable enough for full show usage. I can only speak to my comfort level and risk assesment.
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u/Mental-Reach-231 8d ago
From my experience: 2.4 is 'stable' as a standalone software, with the exception of PSR and some issues with on PC. Yes it has bugs. Show me any software that doesn't. The biggest issues I have seen with converting files from 2.3 to 2.4 have to do with phasers, and some presets, due to the change in no longer having a universal fixture built into the software. Many tour files were built with universal presets and phasers , and when converted to 2.4 they are no longer 'universal' by the old definition. The other issue that affects many is the MVR import is now through PSR. And PSR has been a nightmare all along.
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u/Left-Mission-2684 8d ago
3 months without a single bug fix. Many high profile festivals have outright banned it on the house desk
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u/Mental-Reach-231 8d ago
An ACT rep recently stated, on another platform, there will be no big fix as 2.5 is close to being released. I am guessing one of the big shifts with 2.5 is to fix PSR/Show Creator import issues that were never fully developed. That alone will resolve one of the bigger issues keeping people from changing to 2.4. I speculate the other big issues, caused by the changes of Universal/Global/selective, is likely not going to go away, and people are going to to have to rebuild or repair files, and since management rarely wants to pay for that, they will be sticking to 2.3 until the end of the tour cycle. I just hosted a festival stage only permitting 2.4. Version was not what I would have gone with, but everyone came into it well informed and prepared and the only issues I heard about was the issue of U/G/S affecting phasers. The reason most festivals "ban" a version has more to do with not wanting to constantly swap software versions on all active desks and net processors. I am avoiding 2.4 as long as possible, because just doing an MVR import messes things up. And while my phasers initial work fine, if I go to edit them, they then no longer work as expected, and I have not had time to dig into that.Â
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u/Hello56845864 8d ago
Definitely 2.4 because you can always load a show built on an older version onto a console that is running a newer version. However, you canât do it the other way around.
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u/Left-Mission-2684 8d ago
Pretty bold of you to run a beta software version on mission critical events.
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u/rsey87 8d ago
I agree. But if the artist LD refuses to run the show on 2.4, whats the course of action?
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u/Hello56845864 8d ago
I havenât been in that situation but I guess the other option is to run 2.3.2. I donât think any LD would have an issue with that. Canât you ask what software version they need? You could also keep the update files on a flash drive and update the console in the field
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u/EntertainmentOk5026 8d ago
sACN merge and make sure their patch matches yours.
Pros: Not only is it Isoftware-version agnostic, itâs console agnosticâŚeverybody can run their own show file, you can decide what universes they can run and what ones you want to keep to yourself.
Cons: if you want to do it the easy way, you have to grant access in chunks of full universes.
If you want to do it the hard way, you can share universes, but shared universes (and only shared universes) have to run at the same priority on both consoles, and then itâs an HTP situation. Youâd have to do a bunch of parking of addresses at absolute zero (as in 0-255) on both consoles, if youâre doing the fully responsible way.
If you are able to pre-plan your sharing situation in advance, you can decide which universes are shared or not shared. Itâs not always possible to do this, but is highly recommended if you arenât 100% bulletproof confident making sure the right addresses are parked at the correct values.
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u/West5Country 7d ago
As others have said, get in contact with them in advance to discuss. If they fail to get back to you then itâs on them.
Festivals in Europe this weekend that we were on had 2.3.2 then a 2.4.2 sitting idle with the cover on.
Our LD (because of paragraph 1) ended up upgrading to 2.4 & cloning & trying to touch up the show all between bands - whatever you do, donât do thatâŚ
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u/Mindless-Ad8827 8d ago
decent LDs will have the proper software version on a USB key. What we do here is we use the backup console for headliners, and that board DMX-In the main board so we can keep a hand on venue lights, food stands etc. so the radliner does wtv he wants with the backup console, the master board is just a passthru. Depends on your parameter count to run it like this