Anyone who has even been in class with me has heard me find several thousand ways to say that selection order is important.  From patch to effects, the order you select your fixtures in will make a huge difference in your programming.  So imagine my delight this week when I learned Hog can show you your selection order in the programmer.

If you need context, here’s a selection in the programmer for 9 moving lights. 

Seeing this, you might assume I selected the fixtures in numerical order.  But with the default settings, I could have selected the fixtures in reverse order (9 thru 1) or odds first, then evens (1+3+5+7+9+2+4+6+8) and it would display the same.  But since the Programmer view is a spreadsheet, it makes sense that you can add columns and sort by them.  Here’s how you do that.

The Setting

Right click on the Num and choose Show>Show Set Order. 

Now the programmer now displays your selection order. It’s the second column.

If you want the fixtures sorted by selection order, you can right click on Sel Order and choose Sort.   

If you like either setting (selection order, sorted by selection order) and want it turned on by default, this option gets saved in your View.  So don’t forget to save a new View or re-save the current view.

I don’t know that I’m going to use this feature very much since I’m used to just remembering selection order, but I’m definitely keeping the Selection Order column added to my Programmer views in case it’s a very hectic programming day and I need the assist.  What little selection order tips and tricks have made a difference in your programming?  Let us know in the comments.

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Mark LaPierre is a programmer in film and television based out of Albuquerque.  He grew up in live entertainment and was a designer/programmer for musicals, concert dance, live music, circus and corporate.  Mark is a proud member of IATSE and an ETC Eos trainer.  If you enjoy his content, please consider commenting on his posts on the website to appease the Algorithm.