Question on using Arena as a Media Server

[bright!]

Hey there

i have been using Arena for some time now but never fully DMX controlled. Next week i will try to use Arena 4.22 like a standard media server. I have nearly understood the concept of how Arena works on DMX. I am still unsure about one thing though.

On a standart media server there are several layers. Every layer can access files by dialing in a folder and a file via DMX. As Arena only uses decks and files i guess that concept must be used a little different. How would people normally use Arena to make it work like that?

One thing i could think of is the following:

One deck per song which has all the needed clips for that song on all the layers.
On the start of the song change the deck on the master layer (Channel 6), then change to the clip i want (Channel 35) with a little delay.

Or is there a more easy way to make all layers see all clips like with a standard folder and file system?

Thanks for any insights on how you use Arena

Thomas

[DuckEater]

Loading a deck takes few seconds (depending on how may clips you have inside),
so you should do that not in the same cue as triggering the clip.

Unless you have a ton of media (more than 250 per layer for the whole show)
You can use only one deck and using columns 1-10 for the first song, 11-20 for the second, etc.
Like that, anytime you play a cue on your lighting-desk, you're really sure about what is played.

[bright!]

So there is really no way of using Arena like a standard media server where i can access folders and files? Given the fact that i want to use more then the 250 files per deck ... is there any way? Or can i really only change the deck then?