11
LIGHTING CONSOLES

The tremendous advances in console design, especially computer engines, cannot be overlooked, but it would be unfair to say that they came about purely because of rock & roll demands on the established manufacturers of the 1970s. It is true that the most complex manual boards of the 1980s, with flash buttons (instant-on buttons), chasers (grouping to auto-timed changes), and pin matrices (shunt boards allowing one fader handle to operate random dimmers), were not available as standard items in the theatre consoles of the 1970s. Up until that time, most lighting consoles were pretty much the same, except possibly those that had a manually set group of presets that could be attached to the console. There were some very ingenious concepts, including a drum system designed by legendary educator and designer George Izenour at Yale Drama School. I had the privilege and sometimes pain of operating one he built at the University of California, Los Angeles, as a graduate student and later at Harrah's Casino in Lake Tahoe, California. The standard of the day was to have a grand master to control the total output power of whatever low-voltage system the manufacturer used (there was no standard). Two scene masters would have master control of all the channels, usually no more than 48 individual channels (dimmers). A group of submasters, a way of grouping channels together in a discrete number, could be added. Nothing else except the “wing” idea of George's was generally available.

Later, British concert companies started making their own desks, a term they liked to use instead of console or boards. An early manual preset board by Electrosonics, a British company (which still exists, although today they only develop video gear such as servers), was based on a layout concept I brought to them (Figure 11.1) and was probably the first mass-produced board to use flash buttons and pin matrices. It was aimed specifically at the concert market. Showlites, the London rental company that Eric Pearce started in the early 1970s, began manufacturing Alderham lighting console products to accompany dimming systems in 1976, and they stayed in use until well into the 1980s. The rock & roll desks, as they were called, had two presets, each with 60 faders, 20 submasters, and a 20 × 60 pin matrix. The Alderham 602 model did not have a microprocessor and was all hand-wired. Ian “Avo” Whalley, a touring technician at the time, continued its development and started Avolites a couple of years later. Figure11.2 shows his Avolite QM-500.

At about this same time, the major manufacturers were gearing up to bring out computer-based consoles. They were convinced that there was no market for a more complex manual console, but then they did not see rock & roll as being a financially profitable market either—too bad. Not that the introduction of computers was wrong, but rock & roll lighting designers still thought they needed to play the console to the music and that a computer spitting out a string of preprogrammed cues couldn't meet their needs. When I took the first computer out on tour (the #2 Light Palette by Strand), the company delivered it without a manual. I used it for the first time on a European tour for John Denver in 1978 without ever having used it before on a live show, just playing with it in my shop.

All rock & roll tours have replaced the earlier models with manual and even early computer control consoles. What is needed today, not just for rock & roll touring, but for most lighting that uses moving luminaires, media servers, or LED walls, are systems to assist in handling the larger number of channels required and to improve programming ease.

The main reason why most concert lighting designers took time to adjust to the preprogrammed consoles was that they wanted that hands-on feel that allowed them to play the music, to be able to activate flash buttons and faders in time to the music. Designers said they needed the manual control to feel a part of the music, and they did not seem to get that feeling when they touched only one button to execute a complex command. What I liked about the computer, though, was that I could be sure that I would get the same look show after show, which is what my client wanted. None of us wants surprises, at least not on tour. The same could be said about Las Vegas showrooms, where many artists eventually started to perform. Some highly paid lighting designers discovered that they did not have to stay for the full run; with the computer, the artists and designer could be assured that the house operator would run the cues just as programmed.

Yet, there are times when that live feel is best, such as at one-off shows when there has not been a full rehearsal or at a festival of artists not used to a full lighting rig. In these cases, the lighting designer can contribute to the show's mood and tempo on the fly. The LD can set up a series of palettes, instead of preprogrammed scenes, that offer the option of picking various combinations—for example, assigning colors, gobos, and different sweep movements to change moving luminaires “live.” The spontaneity can be exciting for both the audiences and the designer.

There are many reasons why a designer might choose a particular console; their preference can be likened to a musician who has a favorite maker of piano. Partly this is due to familiarity and a certain comfort level, to be sure. In some cases, designers may be in such demand that they simply do not have time to get comfortable with another unit, even when a newer, different console might work better for their projects. And, because there are so many options available, it has gotten harder and harder to keep up. The following discussion provides examples of several of the models currently being offered.

Another twist is the addition on many high-end consoles of visualization programs that allow the designer and programmer to see what the cue will look like as they are building it. This is extremely handy, because most allow you to print out the looks to show them to the manager or artist so they get a better idea of what the designer has planned. Some of these programs can be used live during the performance to allow editing on the fly.

HANDS-ON CONSOLES

This group of consoles is often favored for live events such as festivals or one-off shows. They are designed on a simpler platform that does not have as complex a program methodology or does not handle as many cues. These consoles may be used for television

shows or other special events that also do not require the expense of a more complex console or do not use many moving luminaires or effects. Based on the old manual, two-scene concept with submasters and a grand master, they have been expanded to include the concert idea of flash buttons, which allow individual channels or groups of channels assigned to a submaster to be instantly energized without sliding a fader handle up and down. It gives the operator the ability to play the console. This idea has its roots in a concept called the light organ. In today's world, a light organ is a device that controls the brightness of a light according to sound levels—that is, the louder the sound, the brighter the light; the softer the sound, the dimmer the light. A color organ is a slightly more sophisticated device with several channels, each one sensitive to a different part of the audio spectrum. So, low notes might flash a blue light, middle notes might light up yellow, and high notes might flash a red light. For each channel, the louder the sound produced in the specified pitch, the brighter the light.

Expression 3

Probably the most popular console has been the Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC) Expression 3 (Figure 11.3). This console has been around for a while and just recently has been archived (it will no longer be built); however, there are so many of them out there in regional theatres, television stations, and educational

facilities that they have to be included in this chapter. According to ETC, they shipped 6085 of the consoles, and their research suggests that there are still 90% of them in use. The line originated in 1982. It has 24 submasters on 10 pages, 2 sets of cross faders, and 5 attribute encoders for the controls needed to program moving luminaires with 1536-DMX-512 dimmers/attributes on 400/800/1200 channels and 600 cues. It also has a feature first introduced in the original Light Palette (discussed later in this chapter)—the wheel fader/timer. This is an endless rotating wheel that has no 0 or 100% fixed point. The designer does not have to relate to a number, only the visual response, and the computer can remember it. It also works to modify time fades up and down using a “take control” instant touch method that can speed up or slow down a retimed fade, thus allowing the designer to match a change in speeds of the band's tempo or fades.

Ion

Ion is ETC's replacement for the Expression 3. Its design may have evolved from the old Strand 300 series console in that it takes a systems approach of components that can be joined in several add-on configurations. The basic Ion unit (Figure 11.4) is 19 inches wide and controls conventional and moving luminaires equally well. It includes split faders, a grand master, four function wheels, key pad, and no submasters on the main unit; submasters/channel

control can be added via up to 6 “fader wings” of 1 × 20, 2 × 10, and 2 × 20 for a total of 240 additional submasters with paging control. The system can support one or two external high-resolution digital video interface (DVI) monitors (which can also be touch screen). Configuration of 1024 to 2048 outputs, with channel numbering from 1 to 5000, is available. An additional feature is that the Ion can be used as a remote programming station for the Eos system. ETC says that the operational style is the same as Eos, which can make it much easier for an operator to move up to the more powerful console.

Leprecon LP-1600

This console is in the lower cost range of quality consoles. Leprecon's LP-1600 series is similar to the Ion but does not offer the moving luminaire capability of dedicated encoders (Figure 11.5). It is a true manual console with a memory. Sizes range from 24/48 to a maximum of 48/96 channels. A limited memory for cues allows for only 288 but point cues can be added on top of this number. A disc drive and VGA monitor outputs are optional. To be fair, Leprecon does make two consoles with moving luminaire controls and offers a luminaire library for their LP-X24 (512 channels) and LP-X48 (192 channels) models.

Avolites Diamond

In the ever-evolving, hands-on category because they have retained channel faders on the console logic are the Avolites Diamond Series and smaller counterpart Pearl Series consoles. The Diamond 4 Vision (Figure 11.6) was featured in the second edition of this book over

14 years ago and is still a highly regarded console. It is designed for large-scale shows, festivals, and concerts. Features on the consoles that many designers appreciate have resulted from engineering advances as well as from input by touring designers. It is loaded with 28 cue playback masters of over 200 pages and with 128 preset faders, which can now control a chase, cue list, or luminaire intensity of over 1000 luminaires. Also available are multiple times on attributes and luminaires. An interesting feature is what Avolite calls “dedicated buttons for theatre plotting” with dual theatre configuring of palettes, groups, luminaires, and cues. The unit has eight DMX-512 outputs, as well as Ethernet capabilities. This is a rock & roll lighting console legend that is highly praised by leading programmers and lighting designers. I see many more years of valued service for this series of consoles from England.

CONSOLES DEDICATED TO MOVING LUMINAIRES

History of the Hog

Behind the development and naming of the Wholehog was a console designed by Nick Archdale with Andy Neal. They used the DLD6502 desk they had built to run dimmers, scrollers, and Clay Paky Goldenscans from 1988 to 1991. In 1988 and 1989, they moved in with SpotCo, and the DLD desk was thus brought to the attention of Peter Miles and Tim Bayliss, who saw the potential for such a console in the blossoming DMX wiggle-mirror market. SpotCo in London provided a portion of the seed money and the encouragement for the development of a new console, the blueprint of which was largely formed in Nick's

head, as he had spent hours behind the DLD6502, Vari*Lite Series 100, and Artisan consoles. He flew to the United States in 1991 to find Tom Thorne. They drove across the country that summer and conceived the names Flying Pig Systems and the Wholehog. They then worked on the system for less than 10 months before the first prototype was used for the Irish band Simply Red. Figure 11.7 shows the original console, DLD Serial No. 001, under glass in the lobby of Lightpower GmbH in Paderborn, Germany, today.

Flying Pig Systems was founded in 1991, and the first Wholehog console was shown at a Professional Lighting and Sound Association (PLASA) show in 1992. They felt there was a void in the market that they could fill with a desk that served equally as well for conventional as well as automated lights. Nick explained, “Hence the idea of ‘going whole hog’ about controlling large numbers of all kinds of fixtures.”

The Wholehog was a departure in console logic. The idea of parametric, high-priority programming using highlight, blind, and clear, as well as a library of fixture personalities, first appeared with the Wholehog. A visual two-dimensional rig schematic was visible to view the placement of all the luminaries. But, maybe the most radical thing was that … you could buy one! Up until then, Vari*Lite had refused to sell their luminaires or consoles; they would only lease them.

The Wholehog II (conceived in 1993 and released in 1995), fondly called the “Son of Hog,” lost the rig schematic and a few thousand channels but gained a real-time effects engine, three-dimensional space (XYZ position programming and updating), and “what you see is what you get” (WYSIWYG) integration. Flying

Pig seed-funded Cast's WYSIWYG visualizer, manufactured the DMX cards, chose the name (see Chapter 21), and finally added the use of touch screens.

Unlike the original Wholehog, which was specifically designed as a touring board, the Wholehog II was created with a much wider market in mind (e.g., theatre, television, trade shows) and certainly seemed to hit the spot, as thousands were sold.

The Wholehog III is the latest version. The general idea was to produce a scalable system, so all DMX and IO processing was moved off the board to networked (Ethernet) components that could be added as required. This was also the point where the syntax was changed to bring it in line with more established computer techniques, but Nick said he feels the best part is the abstracted fixture library model that uses real word units to control any fixture in exactly the same way, thus allowing for the Holy Grail of touring consoles—one with the ability to swap out or clone fixture types and preserve all programming.

High End Systems bought Flying Pig Systems in 1999 and took over product development in 2003. Subsequently, High End Systems has been sold to Barco, as noted in Chapter 1.

Road Hog Full Boar

The console shown in Figure 11.8 with the Wholehog III includes many of the same features. They are

equipped with Flying Pig Systems software and are able to create, manage, edit, and play back moving luminaires at some of the fastest speeds possible today. They feature a backlit trackball with four configurable buttons for cursor and position control and ten playback faders with familiar playback controls: choose, go, pause, and flash—with dedicated intensity and rate wheels and 36 soft-keys for quick toolbar selections. Most often the Wholehog will be used with a second console dedicated to conventional luminaires. It is not unusual to see this combination on a tour or television special.

Virtuoso DX2

The Virtuoso DX2 console (Figure 11.9) from PRG was designed to handle moving luminaires right from the start. Vari*Lite Series 300 luminaires were its prime target. The console was originally built by Vari*Lite but has been updated and is now manufactured by PRG; however, digital luminaires and conventional luminaires are at home here, too. In addition to having 8 DMX-512 outputs and supporting over 600 universes, it has an Ethernet communications protocol. The system has a fully integrated three-dimensional programming environment that provides real-time status display and offline editing. This is a Mac platform, unlike most others that are PC based. To prove that this console fits right in with media servers, it has a media window for graphics control and preview of the numerous media files required for digital lighting. For the moving luminaires, it provides 2000 multiple parameter, 2000 to 10,000 cues per luminaire, 1000 presets, and 1000 effects. Add to this 1000 board cues, 1000 groups, and 30 submasters and you have a very powerful moving luminaire and digital lighting system control.

V676

The V676 is a recent entrant into the market by PRG. In fact, it was not ready to ship at the time of this writing. There was talk that it will eventually replace the Virtuoso DX2 but this was not confirmed by PRG. The V676 console (Figure 11.10) is designed to be intuitive for the programmer. The company claims extraordinary speed, both in programming and responsiveness, as well as innovative interface advancements in hardware and software design. In an unusual move, the processor is mounted outboard of the console, an Apple Quad-Core Mac Pro, for better graphics and faster processing. The console is marketed for moving luminaires and digital media.

THEATRE CONSOLES

It may no longer be fair to make this distinction because so many theatres now plan highly complicated lighting cues for their plays and musicals, and you will often find moving luminaires and other effects and media. It is fair to say that all of the traditional lighting console manufacturers have awakened to the need to make their consoles more technically appropriate to today's diverse lighting uses, such as corporate shows, theme parks, architectural, dance, and opera, as well as concerts. In all of these cases, there is a good chance that up to several hundred moving luminaires will be included in the lighting plan; therefore, the old 48-channel, two-scene console with split-faders and a grand master just won't work anymore, even for houses of worship.

Expression 3

The ETC Expression 3, as noted earlier in this chapter, is very common and will remain on the market for years to come.

Strand Light Palette VL

Strand Lighting still holds sway with their Light Palette series. The Light Palette VL (Figure 11.11) is the newest in the series and is based on the Classic Palette, which dates back to the 1970s; it has been a prominent feature of Broadway shows lately. Light Palette VL added 24 submasters and a 100-key direct action keypad. It delivers power in a traditional console with 2 timed split cross faders and 12 combination submaster/playback faders with 4 additional rotary encoders and a built-in touchpad. It has core processors for optimum performance, a color picker for direct color selection, 2 timed playbacks, 12 direct-access playback faders, 4 rotary encoders, and 2 grand masters, but touch screens are optional. The capacity for memory is up to 8000 control channels/attributes. The console comes with four DMX-512 outputs with optional touch-screen monitors.

Congo v5

Congo was developed when Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC) acquired Avab's console line. When ETC made the announcement that they had acquired the Avab line, they touted the fact that both companies had been designing consoles for 30 years. The press release said, “Melding together the engineering brilliance and experience of ETC and Avab systems, Congo maintains the simplicity of classic systems with the feature-rich functionality of a dedicated moving luminaire console.” The manufacturer tried to maintain the functions desirable for everyday theatre work with conventional luminaire but added the advanced control of hundreds of moving luminaires. The Congo console (Figure 11.12) allows the user to move independent channels such as work lights, conductor lights, follow spot, and smoke machine control to a special section that isn't affected by the rest of the system. The unit comes complete with a theatrical-style main playback fader pair, 40 multipurpose masters for group submasters, a submaster, effects and additional sequence controls, 40 direct selects, and a dedicated moving luminaire control section. In 2008, the company released Congo v5, which is essentially a hardware upgrade but well worth the trouble.

HYBRID CONSOLES

Hybrid consoles do not follow the old channel methodology. Many of these consoles no longer even call a controller a “fader.” These consoles cost tens of thousands of dollars and are more than worth it, if your needs justify the sophisticated and complexity

they offer. I have spoken to several operators who admit they feel that have not scratched the surface of the capability of units in this group but are more than anxious to try as shows become more and more sophisticated. There are many times, such as during Super Bowl halftime shows, when many of these consoles must be linked together to operate the show. Tours often operate with more than one console. In some cases, these might be two different units determined to best handle particular sections of the lighting system, such as conventional luminaires or moving luminaires.

HOG iPC

The Hog iPC console is a small, mid-range controller that offers a lot of flexibility for programmers (Figure 11.13). It is designed to use the Wholehog 3 control system, so you get advanced features and functions, but it is backward compatible with the earlier Wholehog 2 software. It's the industry's first hybrid console.

The Hog iPC uses four universes of DMX output direct from the console, expandable to eight universes using USB DMX Widgets or a USB DMX Super Widget. An unlimited number of DMX universes is possible when using networked DMX processors (DPs). The unit has two 12-inch, high-brightness color touch screens with adjustable viewing angles, and a third optional monitor or touch screen can be connected to the DVI port of the console, allowing additional windows to be viewed and adjusted simultaneously across multiple screens. A backlit trackball with four configurable buttons provides cursor and position control. Wholehog 3 playback controls include choose, go, pause, and flash. The Hog iPC has an internal hard disk drive, a rewriteable CD-ROM drive, and five USB ports for touch screens, external drives, printers, and Wholehog accessories (e.g., playback wing, expansion wing, and additional USB DMX Widgets). An Ethernet connector allows communication with Hog 3PC computers, Road Hog Full Boar consoles, another Hog iPC console, and Wholehog 3 console systems and devices. Remote focus functionality is available when networked with a computer running Hog 3PC software.

Eos

The Eos line by ETC (Figure 11.14) is trademarked as Complete Control™. It won several awards for innovation after its release in 2007. ETC's brochure says it provides simple, approachable control in a nuanced programming environment, with unmatched depth and power. The idea of fast and easy access to moving luminaire control without sacrificing what was needed for conventional control was the watermark they wanted to achieve. This console, along with the grandMA, was the first console to rethink how common functions could be handled in different, even simpler ways. By spending a lot of time with

lighting designers, programmers, and electricians, the company was able to develop intuitive solutions while reducing keystrokes. The operator can issue a command via a keypad or the touch-screen controls. Some people have trouble with touch screens, feeling that if they aren't looking at the point they are touching they can't be sure they have initiated the command. Eos says they have found a way to provide touch-screen flexibility with the tactile response of buttons, so operators can keep their eyes on the stage, not the console. Plus, the mouse has been eliminated. The operator accesses commonly used programming functions via buttons that are within easy reach. Each device on the system has a discrete workspace; designers don't have to sacrifice their needs for those of programmers. Partitioned control provides a safe and effective method for multiple programmers to build content into a show file. All this comes with 10,000 channels (devices); 4000, 8000, 12,000, and 16,000 outputs/parameters; a dedicated master playback fader pair; 10 definable motorized faders with 30 pages of control; 999 cue lists; 200 active playbacks; 300 submasters; 3 programmable grand masters; dedicated pan/tilt or XYZ encoders; 4 page of encoders; 2 built-in 15-inch LCD touch screens; and electronic magic sheets. The console's output can use the new Net3 (ACN based), as discussed in Chapter 20, and ETCNet2 native devices, as well as multiple MIDI and SMPTE inputs.

Maxxyz

Maxxyz (Figure 11.15) is Martin Professional's top-of-the-line lighting console, and it has some original and unique features. The console has extremely fast processing power, direct luminaire access, an effects generator, USB connections, motorized faders, touch screens, and SMPTE/VITC/LANC/MIDI time coding. Maxxyz was one of the first of its kind to incorporate digital LCD buttons designed for tailored, flexible programming. This feature lets the programmer group functions directly to an LCD button and customize the console layout to ease navigation and provide fast recognition. Maxxyz's three-dimensional visualizer is fully integrated into the console software. The visualizer allows the designer to view the light show in highly realistic three dimensions. The

full real-time preview allows designers to create and refine designs without interrupting the running show. This console covers all lighting needs but also integrates the multimedia that today's tours require. The console has a rewriteable DVD/CD drives so you can synchronize your light shows with audio and video. The combination drives also let you save your shows to CD. Maxxyz also has 39 GB of space available for backup purposes. In addition to the 8 DMX universes available directly from the console, Maxxyz is also fully Ethernet enabled. Its amazing 32 DMX universes, 8 of which are available directly from the console, make this an ideal console for large LED screen applications. Dual processing power (two Pentium CPUs) controls up to 16,384 luminaires; 1000 cue lists with motorized fader control and 1000 cue lists with playback control buttons round out the impressive features of the EOS.

grandMA

The long-anticipated announcement has arrived regarding the release of the German-built grandMA2 (Figure 11.16) by MA Lighting and marketed in the United States by A.C.T. Lighting. The MA in the name stands for one of the coinventors, Michael Adenau. The grandMA is the product of the two inventors teaming with Lightpower to build a series of consoles that soon were being talked about throughout the concert touring community. Many of the features now seen on the Congo and Eos were first built into the radical design of the original grandMA. The grandMA features extensive integration of conventional luminaires, moving luminaires, LEDs, and media server control in one console. It was the first console to have built-in touch screens and the first to drop the fader and sub-master concept for executors. These are 20 motorized controllers that can run a single channel, a single cue, a whole sequence, or the entire show. Each executor has 128 pages, and there are also an additional 40 executor buttons. For moving luminaires, there are 4 encoder wheels that accept 2048 or 4096 parameters and a unique ball that can be energized to pan and tilt luminaires. Among its other features is that there is no restriction of the amount of cues that can be recorded; the number is virtually unlimited. Presets are set in 10 groups of 999, and an additional 999 sequences can be stored. In typical German manner, it is heavy and rigged, built for touring. The hinged feature allows the programmer to set the touch screens at an angle that allows the best viewing in various lighting conditions.

I was first introduced to this console over 12 years ago when I was the director of photography on “Wheel of Fortune.” Up until this time, when we shot on locations, the board operator would bring two consoles, one to run the moving luminaire and one for the conventional luminaires. When we

switched to the grandMA, he only needed the one console because he could write cues, program moving luminaires, and bring up individual channels during tech, all on the same board in real time. Now there are other consoles that can do the same thing, but the grandMA and the upgrade to the grandMA2 are the leaders in this field. Most consoles have a short lifespan in this highly competitive market of touring, but the grandMA has been in service for longer than most and is still a highly sought after console.

SPECIALIZED CONSOLES

Several PC-based consoles do not require anything more than your laptop to run the show. See Figure 11.17 for the names of companies that provide this option. There are also specialized consoles such as ones that are designed to run large LED displays. One, called Madrix, comes from a German company and runs in Windows XP and Vista with a minimum system requirement of a 2-GHz processor, a video card capable of at least DirectX 9.0c, and a USB port for the dongle. This is a software solution that outputs 16 universes of DMX-512 or ArtnetII. The best use seems to be as a pixel-mapping control interface. The stored programs you create can be played back in several ways, including being triggered by audio sources, but during playback they can be manipulated live. One drawback is that only about a third of the effects work without an audio signal. This is part of the new era of expanding use of LEDs. while this console may not control the entire concert, there are many uses for this type of outboard control.

SUMMARY

The market for high-end, highly customizable, cross-platform (media servers to moving luminaires) consoles is very competitive, and the units are expensive (upwards of $35,000 to $89,000 or more for a top-of-the-line console). This is not an item to be purchased on a whim. It may seem unusual, in some ways, that these consoles have enjoyed such longevity until you remember that programmers and designers are creatures of habit who are highly paid for being able to do their job fast, efficiently, and accurately. Doing so requires an enormous amount of knowledge, practice, and real-time experience on how to make the console work for you. Yes, there are programmers who can move between several of these consoles without breaking a sweat, but at some point the market will have to settle

out. You can see by the long list of manufacturers provided in Figure 11.17 that this is not a game for the faint of heart. Get as much time on as many consoles as you can. Most dealers and rental houses have a demo area where you can arrange to spend time with the console. ETC recently set up several suites in their Los Angeles offices for programmers and designers to practice or program their shows. Most rental houses have several consoles set up in a demo room for designers to spend time learning on. Most of the high-end consoles offer free online downloads that provide a console image and allow users to practice the functions and write cues. These downloads are great for learning new consoles that you may not have physical access to, even if you cannot use the cues for a show unless you purchase the program. Make your choices with all due consideration.