tl;dr: the C3500 firmware reference guide (https://www.allen-heath.com/content/uploads/2023/05/dLive-Firmware-Reference-Guide-V1.9_2.pdf; page 78) says about the Channel Strip Layout function: “The layout is stored within Scenes and can be made Safe from Scene recall.”
Despite this claim, I can’t for the life of me find a global safe option for the surface layout. I’ve managed to do it on accident with some fader banks, but haven’t been able to replicate it for others.
I’m mixing a theatre production for a local high school on their C3500. I’ve already written a bunch of scenes so that I can scene through the show and the mics that I want for each scene will pop up for me on the right bank (Bank 2) of twelve faders.
Issue is, I’ve now realized that I should have some fader banks in the left bank (Bank 1) of twelve faders which don’t change throughout the show. I want to be able to page to Bank 1, layer D, for example, and see the band’s channels no matter what scene I’m in.
I want to set all the layers up with:
inputs for the band on Bank 1, layer D
FX sends and returns on Bank 1, layer E
Aux sends and outputs on Bank 1, Layer F
Is there a way to do this by making the fader layouts globally safe? I managed to somehow do just that for the band’s channels on layer D, but I haven’t been able to replicate it for the other two layers. Is that because they aren’t inputs? Is there no way to select a bank of faders and tell it to remain the same regardless of scene changes? I would really love to avoid manually updating each scene, especially given that the user manual explicitly says there is a way to do this.
Strip assignments can be made globally safe. Look in “Other” in the Global Safes and/or Scene filter pages. However, the safes are not granular enough to allow you to safe an individual layer - you can just safe a bank. This same granularity is present in the scene update page too. It sounds like you have already set up layer A in a lot of scenes and want to edit other layers. At this point I can’t think of a nice way to do that and keep your work on layer A. The only way that comes to mind is to edit each scene individually. That sounds decidedly un-fun. Maybe someone else will think of an easier way and chime in.
If you already have (or can afford to spend) a fader strip on top for a band DCA, then you might use the DCA spill feature instead of changing banks.
But in case you have to do a lot of tedious rework anyway to accomplish what you want, I will tell you how I set up the console for theatre. I generally do not change the strip layout from scene to scene. Instead I put DCAs on the top layer where I usually work and where I want assignments to be able to change. Then I change the DCA assignments (and names) on a scene by scene basis. This is partly a holdover from mixers with a fixed layout. But it has several advantages. I can scope DCA assignments individually, making it possible to change the “layout” in multiple scenes at once using the scene update feature. Additionally, it allows me to set a normal level using the channel fader and then all the DCAs end up about 0dB under normal circumstances. Because the channel faders generally stay up, I designate a DCA that is always muted and assign mics there when they are not in a scene.
Like msteel said, the Global/Scene safe for scribble strips is under the “OTHER” tab. It offer left or right bank safes, but not specific layers.
If you want to fix your strip assignments for a batch of scenes (or all scenes), I suggest using the Scene Update tool. Select all the scenes you wish to change, select Auto-tracking and Absolute, then rearrange your layers to taste, then go back and click Apply. This will update all of the selected scenes with your new scribble strip layout.
Auto tracking in the Scene Update tool got me there. Great tip dcongdon!
Thanks both of you for the help. Msteel, I like your advice on the DCAs; I will probably build my next show in DCAs rather than custom fader layouts. (That’s how I do it on yamaha boards, anyways, but I thought I’d try the layout function with this board.)