hey dave! no NEVER plug DMX lights into dimmer packs! it will ruin the light and the dmx board inside it! on the op u have a choice of fade and hold times but unless u want to manually move the fade time as ur scenes are playing u might as well decide on a fade and hold time that suit your general needs. if u want a fade you gonna have to make 2 scenes. scene one will be the color u want to fade and then the next scene will be the black out or the different color. now play those back with a fade time on them and it should fade. i'll let thissit with you for awhile so just let me know if you have any more questions or what not. ok? also welcome to the forums! sincerely,