hello,
the whole process for using devices in DL is:
-create or write personality (Personality Editor)
-load personality in your .sho (Device Listing)
-set a 'channel' for the device (Device Listing)
-patch it (Patch)
-record Palette of colours or focus or whatever (Device Commands)
after that in the main window, you set a palette to a device, you give an intensity to the device and you hit Record (R shortcut).
DL will record a DeviceLink which contains palette reference.
this is the device mode, it's not very complicated.
Actually I want to control them old-school with static color and zoom. Nothing fancy, only the dimmer level changes in my cues. What is the most simple way to do this?
so, following the DMX chart of your device, you first need to choose which mode you wanna use.
following your needs, I would say the SSP mode.
in TOUR mode, you'll need to patch 9 channels (once again, this is the ooooold fashion style).
In that case, ch1 will control the dimmer, ch2 = Red, etc...
if you work like that, you'll want to record cue as each parameters of your device is a dimmer
Where can I find more info on creating a device and creating palettes. The Wiki is in french and not so comprehensive to me.
you can use google translate or another service to translate it
1.how do I enter the Zoom parameter that the COLORade needs in the device personality editor?
you add an offset, you set attribute to BEAM and set the PARAMETER to zoom
2 what does the home column mean?
HOME is like a reset.
when you start creating a Palette, it's a good thing to set your device first at HOME, like that there's no colours (if HOME is 0 for colours) shutter is open (according to the dmx chart, if HOME is set to HOME position, etc...).
++
Français 
English 