What is Random?
Imagine the difference between seeing the entire fixtures in a rig fading in and out in a repeated pattern versus in a random, always changing order. Human nature has us looking for patterns in life and therefore we can find beauty in randomness as it frees us from having to subconsciously find a pattern. As an example, I have randomly bold and underline printed many letters throughout this article. As you stare at the page in its entirety you can see the simplicity in the randomness.
Random Chases
The most basic model of randomness on a lighting console is related to chases. Typically a chase or sequence is a series of cues or steps that automatically progress in a particular order. Most lighting consoles allow the programmer to select the direction of the chase through the cues/steps. Common directions include forward, reverse, and bounce. In addition, you will usually find a random play option. With this selected, the cues/steps will play in no particular or repeated manner. Instead, the console will jump around wildly from one cue/step to another. On stage this presents very interesting looks and effects. For instance, if you have six cues/steps recorded with each on a different color mixing value, then your random chase will produce an ever changing and non-repeating pattern of changing colors.
A chase set to random is an extremely simple and effective way to create a set of things changing on stage in a random order. I particularly like this method because I can define exactly the particular looks that are then transitioned between in a random order. This is how I used to build ballyhoos in the days before consoles had built in effects engines. It is still useful today when I desire a series of distinct actions but do not want to have a noticeable pattern as to which one will precede another. It can be very handy when building looks for a tradeshow, walk-in looks, party atmosphere, and much more.
Random Effects
Very few people are aware of a long lost automated lighting programming feature that was an early predecessor to today’s powerful effect engines. The classic Wholehog 2 console originally had a feature called “InstaLook.” When this button was pressed, it would randomly select values for all the parameters of the currently selected fixtures. Of course, at the time, the fixtures were very basic, with only a few parameters, so this feature basically created random pan/tilt position, color and gobo selections. This caused all sorts of crazy looks on stage, most of which were not usable. I sometimes would use it only for the purpose of recording the wild positions it came up with. Within a few releases of software, InstaLook was replaced with the well-known Effects Engine.
Almost all modern automated lighting consoles today come with some sort of effects package that can easily provide ballyhoos, color chases, iris pulses and much more. Once you apply the effect, you are presented with a number of controls, including the ability to determine when the effect is applied to individual fixtures. By altering this value (sometimes called offset or stagger) you can change the appearance of the effect. This allows a color chase to happen in a linear form from left to right or spread out from the center fixture. If you adjust the offset in a random order, then the effect will appear to be random as each fixture starts the effect at a very different location within the effect.
Randomizing effects is one of my very favorite things to do as it adds much greater interest and intrigue to almost any effect. A simple circle effect will move all your fixtures in the same circular pattern around a specific position. However, if you randomize the starting point of each fixture, you will create what looks like a scattering of movement across the stage. This can also be applied to intensity, color, iris and other parameters for powerful non-repeating looks.
The Order Matters
When selecting a range of fixtures on your desk, the order in which they are selected can have a big impact. Functions such as offset, align, stagger and timing routines often depend on the order in which the fixtures are selected. For instance, I can select fixtures “1 thru 6”, “6 thru 1”, or “4,2,6,3,5,1,” and in each case I will have selected the same six fixtures. However the processing of effects and other tools that are based on the order of selection will yield different results with each selection. I often store groups of fixtures in a traditional numeric order as well as in a randomized order. This way I can easily select the randomized grouping to apply when building effects. Many consoles now have a quick key to rapidly reorder your current selection into a randomized order. I use this whenever I can in place of a pre-randomized group so that every random effect I build is based on a newly randomized order.
Fixture Tools
You will find random abilities not just on your lighting console, but also built directly into many fixture features. A good example is with fixture strobe options. Many manufacturers will provide multiple strobing modes including “normal (synced)”, “random”, and “random synced.” It is important that you understand the differences between each. With a synchronized strobe all fixtures selected at the same speed will flash at the same time. A random setting will keep them all the same speed, but offset their on/off times resulting in a randomized strobing look. A random sync strobe will cause all the fixtures to turn on/off together but in a randomized ordering. The two different types of random each provide their own powerful looks on any stage.
Random Does Not Exist
Many computer programmers will tell you that there is no such thing as a random number or ordering in computer code. They often use routines that are a simple pattern where the order changes based on a unique number from a specific source. For instance, some automated lighting fixtures and consoles will create their random values by following a specific pattern with an offset based on a serial number embedded within the circuit boards. Other will follow a user selectable fixture ID so that if you wanted to create synchronized randomness you could do so with the simple adjustment of this parameter. Sometimes what you perceive as random, may in fact just be a large pattern that does not make any sense given certain constraints. To illustrate this point, the random bold/underlining printing of letters in this article is actually a hidden message and not random at all!
No matter how it is created, if a pattern cannot be discerned during the playback of lighting cues, then it will be perceived by most as something random. This is what really matters as we program lighting for shows. So take the time to learn how to randomize chases, effects and fixture parameters by reading user manuals and using the tools provided. Then you too can create excitement and beauty with the chaos of randomness.
