Light Painting With Clay Paky at ACT Lighting

I was recently invited to the ACT Lighting office in New Jersey to take a look at the Clay Paky line up of Fixtures. ACT Lighting recently became a distributor of Clay Paky in the United States and wanted to show off the line up of fixtures. The gents at ACT Lighting setup one of each of the Clay Paky fixtures in their expanded warehouse. The fixtures were connected to a grandMA 2 Full Size with haze filling up the entire space. I joked with the guys at ACT that they should start a night club after hours. They had the fixtures, control and room, so why not? If a club can pop up in a meat packing plant like on Seinfeld, why not a shipping warehouse? We’ll see what happens. ;)

The first fixture we took a look at is the new Sharpy fixture. It was announced at PLASA 2010 in London England. The first thing you notice about the Sharpy is it’s size, it is small at just 17″h x 11″w and weighing in at 35 lbs. Inside, the Sharpy uses Philips new MSD Platinum 5R lamp at just 189 watts with a color temperature of 8000k and a life expectancy of 2000 hours. Remember that number, 189 watts. At first mention, you might think… um ok? After turning it on and striking the lamp, at 20 meters or 65 feet, the Sharpy is putting out 55,000 lux or just over 5,000 footcandles.

This is where I must warn you about jaw dropping. If you haven’t done so already, pick your jaw up off the table, it gets better. Combining the high quality, precision optics and the lamp output, Clay Paky has placed a warning on the outside of the Sharpy stating that the fixture should NEVER be pointed at a single point for too long at a distance of 40′ or less for risk of fire! The beam is that intense!

Keeping inside the fixture, the Sharpy has am interchangeable color wheel with 14 colors plus open, 17 fixed gobos, a 9-facet rotating prism, frost and a mechanical shutter. The Sharpy also has a zoom from zero to 3.8 degrees, and electronic focusing built in. Since the Sharpy does not offer a zoom function, Clay Paky included six different size apertures in the gobos to narrow the beam for awesome looking aerials. The colors on the color wheel are not your typical round diachronic, but flags that sit tightly next to each other. This gives the ability to have split colors in your beam.

What was really impressive… the speed of the fixture. The Sharpy is SUPER fast with it’s pan and tilt. It’s so fast it almost hurts to watch the fixture move. The fixture has the ability to complete it’s full 540 degree pan in just over 3 seconds and it complete tilt of 250 degrees in just under 2 seconds.

The Sharpy is a pretty impressive fixture for it’s size, output and speed. Read more about it on Clay Paky’s website, www.claypaky.it.

Another fixture we looked at was the new Alpha 700 Profile. The Alpha 700 Profile is jam packed with features! As with the entire line up of Clay Paky fixtures, I was impressed. The 700 is roughly the same size as your typical 700 watt moving head at 15″w x 15″ d x 25″ high weighing in at 69 lbs. As the saying goes, it’s whats on the inside that counts.

The Alpha 700 Profile uses the Philips MSR Gold 700/2 MiniFastFit lamp. Just like the 700’s brothers and sisters, Clay Paky uses high quality optics and lens to produce smooth and even beams. The fixture has and electronic linear zoom from 9 degrees to 55 degrees and electronic focusing.

Something I have to mention about the zoom and focus feature that will be coming into the Alpha 700 Profile is the “Stay-Sharp Zoom” auto focus feature. Just the like the 700 big brother, the 1500, the 700 will get the auto-focus feature. The auto-focus feature allows you to set the distance the fixture will be projecting on. After setting the distance, the fixture will “hold” focus while zooming in and out. The fixture does all the work determining how to keep focus will zooming! I can’t say it enough… very impressive!

This is where Clay Paky stepped it up another notch. They have a patent on a framing system that uses four blades that move separately with smooth and variable speed movement. The system allows for a “total curtain” effect to completely douse the output.

The 700 Profile features CMY color mixing in addition to an 8 color wheel and open. To top it off, the fixture also includes a linear CTO to match the fixture to tungsten sources. The 700 has 1 rotating gobo with 7 individual rotating/indexable gobos, 1 9-facet prism, 1 interchangeable frost filer, a high speed, 16 segmented mechanical iris and a hybrid 0-100% dimmer that is electronic and mechanical.

I could have sat at the desk all day playing with combination of color, gobos, focus and effects across all the fixtures. There is just so much packed into the Alpha 700 Profile that it seems like there are endless number of looks you can create with a single fixture. Some of the aerials that the fixture was able to produce were mind blowing and just pure lighting goodness. Check out more about the Clay Paky Alpha 700 Profile by visiting their website, www.claypaky.it.

While you are at it check out the entire line up of Clay Paky fixtures. While it wasn’t at the demo as it wasn’t ready yet, I am waiting patiently to see the new Shotlight Wash with 3000 watts of strobe… Yeah, 3000 WATTS OF STROBE! I don’t think this needs to be stated, but don’t look directly into the strobe.

I had a great time playing on the grandMA 2 and the Clay Paky fixtures ACT Lighting had out. If you have not had a chance to see the Clay Paky fixtures in person, do everything in your power to see them. The entire line up of fixtures has features that will be sure to knock your socks off, or at least give you goose bumps. Contact ACT Lighting to find out where they will be on display next or to line up a personal demo, you will not be disappointed.

I want to give a super huge thanks to the gents at ACT Lighting NJ for allowing me to “take over” their warehouse for a day to test out the fixtures and take some lighting porn photos. Next time, the Bar-b-que is on me!

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Review: BrickBlaster Pro RGBW LED Fixture

I mentioned the BrickBlaster Pro LED fixture a couple of weeks after LDI this past year in Vegas.  My late writing about the BrickBlaster Pro is a prime example of how large industry trade shows can be.  I totally missed seeing The Black Tank company on the show floor.  Lucky for me, a friend emailed me about the company and their brand new BrickBlaster Pro LED fixture.

The Black Tank company was kind enough to send me a demo kit of the brand new fixtures in order to provide you a review of the BrickBlaster RGBW LED fixture.  Lets start by taking a look at what the BrickBlaster is.  It is a small, I mean really small. It’s an LED fixture housed in a 4″ cube with Red, Green, Blue and White LEDs.  The Black Tank company is using 16 Luxam Rebel, 3 watt LEDs to produce 1200 lumens of max output with all the colors. That would be four LEDs per color. Each LED has a life expectancy of 50,000 hours. Pretty impressive for the size, number of LEDs and the output.

In addition to the RGBW BrickBlaster, The Black Tank company also produces a Variable Color Temperature BrickBlaster that can produce a white light from 2700 kelvin to 6500 kelvin.  Although the Variable Color Temperature, (VCT) fixture wasn’t available for my review, It would be safe to say that the VCT fixture has to have a higher output of lumens compared to the RGBW fixture.  Information on those numbers haven’t been made available yet, but should be ready soon.

Lens System

Taking a closer look at the RGBW version of the BrickBlaster Pro, there is a lot happening in this small cube. First has to be the lens system.  Like many LED manufacturers out there, to offer different beam spread with the fixture, there are lens over lays to widened and narrow the beam. The BrickBlaster Pro uses this same sort system and offers a 20, 40 and 60 degree lens option. What is unique about the lens system is how they attach.  Rather than a slide clip, the lens have four holes in the corners that line up with the thumb screws on the fixture which will certainly keep the lens in place.  A downside of this type of lens holding system is the small thumb screws.  Not that anything is wrong with the thumb screws, but the fact that they are small pieces. I think it is some unwritten law of the universe that at some point a small piece or part will go missing or lost.  Just something to be mindful of when changing out lenses.

Speaking of changing things out, the BrickBlaster Pro has an interesting design when it comes to how the fixture is designed inside.  While I would love to show you what I am talking about, it is something The Black Tank company wants to keep under wraps for the moment.  It has to deal with the exchanging of the entire LED board. Lets say and LED or two are failing on your fixture.  Rather then swapping out or having to carry extra fixtures around, bring some spare LED boards with you.  Just a couple screws, the board comes out and disconnect it, re connect the new one and put back the screws and done.  The brains of the BrickBlaster Pro, which stays with the housing, knows which type of LED board you placed in, whether it be the RGBW, Variable White or a custom LED array that you had built.

The Menu System

Controlling and configuring the BrickBlaster Pro is fairly straight forward.  The menu system on the back is easily readable and provides helpful information such as the current temperature of the fixture.  Now I am one of those people that like to jump right in and start playing… manual, who needs a manual?!  The BrickBlaster Pro was easy to get started and up and running and spitting out lumen goodness.

Within the onboard menu system, you have three different modes that the fixture can run in, DMX, Color Wash and Manual Mode.  The DMX mode is pretty easy to understand, set the DMX address and either 8-bit or 16-bit mode and away you go.  The other two modes are for control at the fixture.  With Manual Mode, you can set any of the four colors to a specific DMX value from 0 to 255 and leave it, no DMX console or control required.  The last mode, Color Wash has all kinds of control and function for a set-it-and-forget-it running.  You have the ability to control the speed and colors of a wash that will keep scrolling until you turn the fixture off.

In addition to the menu system on the back, you’ll find a 5 pin DMX in and Out to daisy chain fixtures together.  You’ll also find a Neutrik Powercon connector for powering up the fixture.  I personally would have like to seen a powercon pass through connector for powering up multiple fixtures at once.  But with the 4″ cube size of the fixture, that might not be possible.

Built into this small package is a fan that help keep the LEDs cool.  The fan is fairly quite, I really only noticed the fan running when I was adjusting settings on the menu and a breeze from the fan was coming out the air vent on the back of the fixture.  As with any LED fixture, the LEDs must be cooled in order to prolong their life.  The on board thermal management helps keep the temperature in check and assures they keep pushing lumens out for their life expectancy.

Conclusion

Over all I was highly impressed with the output of the fixture.  Would would have guessed that four LEDs per color would be able to produce so much output in such a small package.  While the distance that I was throwing the LEDs was less then 20 feet, the area that I was hitting was well covered and super saturated. The RGB white was like many LED mixing towards white, not the typical “white” that we preserve as white, but more of a pinkish hue.  Thus the addition of the white LEDs.  Adding those in softened the white and made some paler and pastel colors which make me giddy with joy.

The BrickBlaster Pro holds up fairly well and packs a punch for such a small package.  The fixture can find use in a wide variety of venues and situations where color, small form factor are essential.  Since the fixture is not sealed from the elements, dry locations are a must. The BrickBlaster Pro would fit into almost any type event for uplighting and washing where control is not necessary, but maybe simple color changing to static colors are.

I enjoyed my time with the BrickBlaster Pro.  Thank you to The Black Tank company for allowing me time to experience the fixtures.  Again, sorry I missed you at LDI. Next time, that will not happen! Look for some enhancements and up grades to the fixture as well as new LED fixtures from The Black Tank Company. To learn more about the BrickBlaster Pro, be sure to visit The Black Tank’s website at www.theblacktank.com.

Your Thoughts

Have you seen the BrickBlaster Pro in person?  What did you think?  I would love to hear your thoughts about the fixture in the comments section of the review.  While you’re writing something, what did you think of this review? Did it help, did you feel it was informative? I always love to hear what you think!

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Review: Interactive Technologies CueServer Express

The different styles of lighting control available to us are staggering.  It seems as though each manufacturer puts a twist on how we can manipulate lumens, as well as “barrow” things from each.  One company that has separated themselves from the pack is Interactive Technologies.  While most manufacturers offer a hardware interface to select and manipulate lights, Interactive Technologies gives you a webpage.

Let me explain, at the heart of Interactive Technologies control offerings is the CueServer, a website-in-a-box that offers control from either a webpage or a button station like the SceneStation available from Interactive Technologies and outputs DMX control.

At LDI2010 I was introduced to the Interactive Technologies latest product, the CueServer Express.  This has to be the smallest website and DMX controller out there.  Don’t let the size and simple exterior fool you, there is some serious control in the CueServer Express.

The CueServer Express is the little brother to Interactive Technologies CueServer Pro and CueServer Mini control products. It is considered an entry level control device for portable applications and cost effective. Just like all the CueServer products, the CueServer express includes a built-in web server that provides access to a full complement of lighting controls, show programming and playback features without the need for special software or an Internet connection.

The power behind the CueServer Express lies hidden within this tiny little box of just 5″ wide, 3.5″ long and just 1″ high. It looks simple, but again, looks can be deceiving.  After connecting the CueServer Express to my local network, and plugging in a DMX line to some devices, it was up and running.  The CueServer Express was assigned an IP through my DHCP server, after finding what that IP was by simply pinging the network, I just had to goto the IP address via my browser and I was in.

What is happening behind the scenes and in the network is that you are communicating directly with the CueServer Express via it’s web server function.  You are sending commands and instructions over the network by TCP/IP to the CueServer Express.  Then within the CueServer Express, those instructions are translated and sent out the single DMX line to our devices.  The CueServer isn’t spending and receiving Art-Net, but standard web page instructions.

[singlepic id=1518 w=320 h=240 float=left]The beauty and simplicity of this design is the interface.  The default web page control out of the CueServer Express is fairly basic.  No frills and images to download, but a very basic and some what powerful control surface.

What caught my attention is “CueScript”, a programing language for the CueServer family. Think of it as the command line for the CueServer Express, very similar to most lighting controllers have. Rather then using the built in keypad on the web page, you can enter commands via the command line or CueScript.  The beauty part about CueScript is that you do not have to type out entire words, for instance, for channel, rather then typing out the entire word, just type c and then the number @ fl, ie: c1@fl.  Their is a help box below the command line that spells out what you have typed in plain English to assume you that you have typed in the command that you want.  The commands can be as long and complicated as you want them to be.

From the web page, you have the ability to use the built in keypad which is very similar to most lighting desk out there with a number pad, record and timing functions.  But wait, theirs more.  In addition to the number pad, you have three other keypad pages.  The second being a recall section for colors, just like pallets that you find on many other desk.  The last two pages are all yours, you can edit and record any command you like to 25 buttons per page.

Say command line isn’t your cup of tea, no worries, Interactive Technologies isn’t holding you back.  You have a number of other alternatives to send commands to the CueServer Express, such as the Brand New Figment iOS App, CuePad iOS app, custom Flash Applications and Interactive Technologies own button and touch screen station options.

For this review, I only had a chance to connect the Figment iOS app to the CueServer Express.  While I was temped  to try some custom Flash interfaces, it really didn’t pertain to the review.  As for the Figment App, so simple and easy.  Connecting the Figment App to the CueServer Express was just as simple as setting up the CueServer Express.  You just have to make sure the wireless access point that the iOS devices connects to is on the same network and subnet.  From there, the Figment finds any available CueServers and away you go.

The CueServer Express offers 512 channels on control, or a entire universe minus the ability to patch.  So patch is always 1-to1.  Another thing lacking out of the CueServer Express is the ability to patch multi-parted devices or fixtures that use more then one channel of control. Is this a limitation? Not when you look at when and where the CueServer is intended for.

The CueServer Express is marketed as a portable lighting solution and for architectural control.  I think the later is where the CueServer Express excels at.  Digging deeper into the controls and options on the CueServer Express, you’ll find the ability to write to four different cue list, each with independent timing and control.  On top of that are controls for triggers such as function buttons, contact closures, macros, timer list and most importantly, timecode events.

With timecode in an architectural installation, you don’t need an input or button station.  Record your looks and have them run at specific times of the day.  Creating and setup looks to go at a certain time during the day is super simple.  During my time with the CueServer Express, I quickly and easily created a time event that happened every day at the same time before I came home. So I came home to nice soothing orange uplight in the office, ah, soothing orange.

I enjoyed my time with the CueServer Express.  It was easy to setup, get up and running and begin to control some lights. While the controls and functions are super simple, it may not the best option for a rig with mass amounts of movers.  But in an architectural installation or a simmer heavy rig, the CueServer Express packs some pretty powerful features in a box the size of a roll of two inch gaff.

If you want to try the CueServer out, or at least try the web page functions, head over to interactive Technologies web site, www.interactive-online.com.

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Review: Martin Professional Mac101 LED Moving Head

At LDI 2010, the US Lighting Community was introduced to the Martin Mac101 LED Moving Light. If you walked past the Martin Professional booth on the half hour, your eyes were immediately drawn in by these little tiny moving lights stuck all over the martin booth dancing and color mixing to the music.  Your eyes are mesmerized by the speed at which they move and respond to the music. The dancing Mac101’s have you hooked, you need to find out more about them.

[singlepic id=1510 w=320 h=240 float=left]The Mac101 is one of Martin Professionals latest LED moving lights and just happens to be the smallest in the line up.  Don’t let the size of the Mac101 deter you, at just 8 pounds and 1 foot high, good things do come in small packages. Packed in the 7.5″ diameter head are 36 Cree XP-E high Power LEDs, 12 Red, 12 Green and 12 Blue LEDs which have the ability to produce 2,000 lumens of output over the life expectancy of 50,000 hours. All the while only drawing 123 watts of power.

If the output and power consumption haven’t raised your eyebrow yet, the speed of the Mac101 certainly will.  As with most moving lights, the Mac101 offers pan of 540 degrees and a tilt of 240 degrees.  But what sets the Mac101 apart is how fast it can whip through it’s pan and tilt.

The entire fixture weighs in at just over 8 pounds.  All of that weight mainly resides in the base of the unit for power supply and electronics.  I didn’t take the fixture apart and weigh things individually, but I have to believe that the head of the unit is lighter in weight compared to the base of the fixture.  A lighter head means quicker movement as the Mac101 most likely doesn’t have many components behind the LEDs weighing it down.  Then or course there are the motors and belts that determines the speed of movement of the fixture. All of the choices Martin made are the right ones.  The Mac101’s movement is FAST.  It is unrealistic to expect any moving head unit to operate in zero time, but less then a second for complete 540 pan rotation… Yeah, it can do that.

Controlling the Mac101 is super simple.  The max channel count the fixture uses is 12 in raw DMX mode. 16 bit control on Pan and Tilt as well as shutter, dimmer, control, color wheel and color temperature in 8 bit. The Mac101 also offers two other DMX modes, Calibrated RGB + CTC and Basic. Meaning, you can have complete control of the fixture with 16 bit’s or very basic control with 8 bit and only 8 channels of control.

Speaking of color, the Mac101 offer Red, Green and blue mixing as well as additional channel that controls a color wheel.  Now, the color wheel is not what you typically think of in a moving light.  The color wheel on the Mac101 offers the ability to mix to a specific Lee gel color based on level of channel 8.  The RGB channels then mix to a very close match of those Lee gel colors.

The color mixing on the Mac101 is fantastic.  One thing the Mac101 does have problems with as most LED color mixing fixtures do, it white.  I found that RGB at full gave a slightly pink white. Not really a non-starter there as most times we want some color other then white coming out of our LEDs.

In 16 bit mode, the Mac101 does offer color temperature control.  Setting channel 12 to a specific level, you can have the Mac101 match almost any color temperature from CTC 10,000k to 2,500k. Once you have a color temperature set on channel 12 to match the rest of your rig, the Mac101 then does all of it color mixing based off that color temperature right on the fixture.  Say you want Lee164, Flame Red to come out of your Mac101 at 5600k, no problem. Set the color temp on the fixture via channel 12 and then use the color wheel channel and set the color, bam, done. All of the calculations are done right at the fixture.

[singlepic id=1513 w=320 h=240 float=left]Addressing and setting up the Mac101 could not have been simpler.  With it’s light weight, the fixture only needs one clamp to attach to almost anything you can image. The fixture uses a Neutrik PowerCon for 100-240v power input as well as a Neutirk PowerCon passthrough to power the next Mac101 in your rig.  Less cabling equals a good thing! Additionally, in the base of the unit is a 5 pin DMX connector for in and one for out, again for daisy chaining our fixtures.

Addressing the Mac101 is easy as there is a very clear and readable LCD screen on the back of the head. No more time clock style, 4 letter menu system for addressing and configuration of the fixture.  The LCD on the Mac101 clearly states what DMX mode you are in and offers an easily readable menu system.  Setting up the Mac101 for my needs was super quick and didn’t require the manual.

Also on the back side of the head is a pretty large cooling fan for the LEDs.  Sure Martin could have gone the heat sink route to help cool the LEDs, but a larger aluminum heat sink would have probably been more weight on the head, thus slowing it down. The fan cuts down on the weight, but does have a slight hum to it in a quite setting.  Either way, the LEDs need to be cooled and the fan seems like the best solution when comparing the two options.  In quite situations and 10+ Mac101s, you may hear a slight humming noise.  With my understanding of the intent of these fixtures, the venues and situations where the Mac101 will be used, it won’t be quite, but possibly deafening.

What about the beam. A review would be incomplete without mentioning the beam of the fixture.  The Mac101 comes standard with a beam angle of 13.5 degrees, pretty tight.  I feel the that mac101 is a great fixture for doing aerial dances and movement in fog and haze with such a narrow beam. Martin does offer a wide angle diffuser for the Mac101 to spread it out and make it more of a wash fixture, but other LED fixtures in Martins lineup are better suited for that. The Mac101 is a great effect and movement fixture.

Conclusion

Have you ever had a tool that was more then just a tool, but a toy? That is exactly what I see when I look at the Martin Mac101. I am not calling the Mac101 a toy at all, I get just as excited working and experimenting with the Mac101 so much, that it doesn’t feel like work any more. It’s speed, color mixing and built in effects are amazing.

It sounds crazy, but think of the Mac101 as the humming bird of the moving light world.  It’s quick response, fast movements and color mixing has your eyes watching every movement and telling yourself, “WANT”.  I feel in love with the Mac101 for it’s size, the simplicity of the unit and of course the colors.  At a retail price of $2,500 USD, the Mac101 can be a great addition to the right rig. Effective for theatrical use, maybe, for live event and rock and roll, hands down, YES.

I have created a quick video showing off the speed, color mixing and effect built into the Mac101.  Don’t let the video fool you, it was taken with a Flip camera which is not the best for filming lights. The fade up, and colors seem a little washed out, but in reality are quite saturated.  As for the bit of jumpingness, it’s not the fixture, it’s the camera, trust me!

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The Best Holiday Present – The DodoCase for the iPad

I think I am still in recovery mode from this past weekend.  Let’s just say it was a “festive” time!  I have to write about one of the best presents I received this holiday season, the DodoCase for the iPad. I was actually expecting to get this, but I never give my hope up when it comes to presents. But I am so excited I did get it!

As you might expect, I live and die by my Apple iPad and iPhone as well as my Mac’s.  I find that I use the iPad more and more while out of the office giving demo’s, explaining what I do and showing off my work as well as doing work! Heck, I use it a bunch while in the office and at home too.

With a nice price tag on the iPad, I want to protect it and keep it around for a bit so I have had a couple of cases for the iPad.  All of which have protected the iPad, but just didn’t feel right to me. That is until I found out about the DodoCase.

I have always loved MoleSkine books for writing, drafting and sketching. The look, the feel and the various sizes and kinds of paper choices is awesome.  There is literately a MoleSkine for every application that you can think of. But none for the iPad! In steps Dodocase out of San Fransisco.

Each Dodocase is made by hand by skilled book binders and offer the feel and styling of a MoleSkine case.  There isn’t much to the Dodocase other then the fact that it is a finely crafted case that the iPad “snaps” into.  The wooden frame that the iPad snuggle fits into holds the iPad in place with rubber pads on each of the corners.  The bamboo frame is cut away on the edges allowing for access to the dock connection, speakers, volume controls, silence switch, the sleep button and of course, the head phone jack.

What drew me to the Dodocase… it has to be the fact that the iPad is firmly held in place with out the use of stretchy cords over the corners or slipped into a “pocket” of some sort. Then of course there is the styling that make it look like a Moleskine case complete with the elastic band to hold the cover closed. When the cover is folded back, the Dodocase give the iPad a little bit of lift in the back when in landscape mode, a bit easier when typing.  Then there is the ability to stand the iPad on edge when in landscape mode for watching movies, and added bonus!

All and all, I love the Dodocase.  It is a stylish case that I have been searching for my iPad ever since I got it back on iPad day this year. The inner lining of the Dodocase comes in a couple of color options, I clearly chose orange! Dodocase also make a case for the Kindle 3 as well! If you have an iPad, love Moleskine books, spend the $59.95 USD on a Dodocase, I am positive you’ll love it just as much as I do!

Find out more about the Dodocase for iPad by visiting their web site at www.dodocase.com. Thanks Renee, I LOVE IT!

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Book Review: Intelligent Lighting: A Curriculum in Entertainment Technology

A couple of weeks again I mentioned a new book out on the market named Intelligent Lighting: A Curriculum in Entertainment Technology.  The author, Matthew Haber was kind enough to provide me with an evaluation copy to write a review of the book here on iSquint.net.

I always like to start a review by what the author and publisher have to say about the book, so here it is:

Intelligent Lighting: A Curriculum in Entertainment Technology is the first ever textbook for secondary school and university level classes on intelligent lighting. Written by the Author with the contributions of various industry partners and professionals, this book covers topics including moving lights, media servers, light board programming, LED fixtures, scrollers, and communications protocols. This publication is designed to excel equally as an all around reference guide for students and professionals alike as well as a textbook for technical theatre education. In addition to full color photographs and informative sidebars, Intelligent Lighting: A Curriculum in Entertainment Technology includes a handy glossary of technical terms, chapter review questions, and a book long design project.

Who the book is intended for

As you can read from the synopsis about the book and even the title, the book is intended for someone new to the industry and wanting to learn more about the technology that we use day in and day out. Whether that be a student in high school or at the college level, or even someone that has found the love of lighting late in their years, the book is intended to guide these entry level users through the basics of our technology. It is recommended that you have a basic understanding of lighting such as common types of lights, general terminology and of course, which end the light comes out helps. ;)

Concepts and layout

Since the book is designed to educate a novice to the industry, the book reads as though it is a text book, hence the title, a curriculum. The layout of the book and information has the same style that you might find in almost any educational text book.  The sections are clearly laid out by the subject at hand and start from the basics leading through protocols, fixtures and then in to my favorite control and programming functions.

Each section begins with a little bit of history about the subject.  I think this is always important, having a little history lesson about the subject.  Not only is fascinating to see how something came to be, but it also gives a glimpse at the method-to-the-madness and how something came to be.

After the quick history introduction, each chapter begins with a pretty though explanation of the subject it talks about and is broken down in to meaningful and clear chunks of information.   For example, the section on Communication Protocols. At the beginning of the chapter there is a listing of what the chapter contains and then is broken down into each of those sections.  It made going back and reviewing a particular section easy to find and re-read if it wasn’t clearly understood the first time around.

With in each chapter, images are used.  I mean USED! There are a huge amount of images of the products, concepts and examples used through out the book.  It almost feels like a picture book at times.  I feel that is a good thing for a beginner.  Sure you can talk about additive and subtractive color mixing and word it just right to were a photo might not be needed. For me, I am a visual learner, if there is an image explaining what I just read, I’ll be able to comprehend the subject so much quicker.

I am not saying the Mr. Haber used so many images that he didn’t have to full explain a subject, he did that quite well for a novice to understand the subject.  Images and diagrams always help reinforce what was written.

Each chapter of the book concludes with some reinforcement, review and questions to make sure the subject is locked away in your brain ready to use when needed.  There is a box of important vocabulary words used within the chapter that the author felt needed to be mentioned again.  Additionally, these vocab words happen to show up again in the books fairly extensive glossary.

The review questions at the end of each chapter make you think about what you have just read.  Did you read it and actually taken in what was mentioned?  These questions at the end make sure you do. Some of the questions don’t just ask you something that you simple read in the chapter, but make you think about what you read.  For example, back to the Communication Protocol chapter.  While the book explains what ArtNet and ACN is, one of the review questions ask, what is the difference between them! Time to put what you learned about the two protocols and explain for yourself what the differences are.

Conclusion

I feel that Mr. Haber’s book, Intelligent Lighting: A Curriculum in Entertainment Technology holds true to it name and delivers what it promises.  This is a great entry level text book for educational facilities that want to offer students an introduction in to some more advanced technologies that our industry uses.  The book gives a great overview of these technologies and is a good starting stone to begin with.

If you are an educator and are looking for a text book for your entry level or lighting 101 class, I encourage you to take Mr. Haber’s offer up and getting an educators evaluation copy and see for yourself if Intelligent Lighting: A Curriculum in Entertainment Technology will suit your course objectives. It’s as simple as contacting publications@metti.org.

You can pick up your very own copy of Intelligent Lighting: A Curriculum in Entertainment Technology by pointing your browsers at amazon.com and pick it up for the discounted price of $39.20.

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Review: Nooks Ultimate Punt Pages DVD

A couple months before LDI this year, the Academy of Production Technology announced the arrival of their latest training tool, Nook’s Ultimate Punt Pages DVD.  No, it is not a training DVD for football kickers on how to punt the ball correctly, that is just silly.  Punting is the US term for running a lighting desk on the fly.  Our European brethren know it better as busking.

Richard “Nook” Schoenfeld is a staple in the entertainment lighting industry and is well know for his programming skills and experience running some rather large shows. In addition his programming wizardry, Mr. Schoenfeld also has a monthly column that he writes for PLSN Magazine, LD-At-Large.  It is here that Mr. Schoenfeld imparts advice, experience and his strong opinions about the lighting design field.  When ever PLSN lands in my mail box, Mr. Schoenfeld article is one of the two articles I read first, as I am always amused and left with valuable information and some well appointed humor.

It is no wonder that Mr. Cadena, the founder of the Academy of Production Technology approached Mr. Schoenfeld to produce a training video on moving lighting controls and playback.  Mr. Schoenfeld brings his experience and knowledge of moving lights and live event programming to the DVD with well though out plans of execution and console layout.

Who is it for

The training DVD does have some “prerequisites” before jumping into the DVD.  Before trying to keep up with the training, it is beast to have a basic understanding of how different types of moving lights work and function.  It is also best to have a fair understanding of how a modern lighting desk functions, interacts with moving lights, multiple playbacks and of course tracking.  From there, following along with Mr. Schoenfeld with or with out a desk in front of you is fairly easy to keep up.

What you can expect

If you come from a theatrical programming background, live event or punting/busking style playback might not be the easiest to grasp at first.  In the theatrical world we are thought that everything has a time and must go at a certain time and be repeatable night after night with like or no difference. In the concert/live event world… timing… yeah, not so much.  Things are happening quick, real quick.  Solos can go on and on, or maybe just a couple of seconds.  So running the desked based on timing just will not work, in steps punting/busking.

Mr. Schoenfeld walks you through his methods of setting up a desk for punting/busking.  As a programmer, I found that I already setup my desk for this style of playback very similarly to Mr. Schoenfeld. But there where some very pleasent surprises and interesting concepts that made me stop and think… “I’ll have to steal that”.  That of course is a joke, stealing isn’t very nice. But that is the point of the DVD.  Take new ideas, use them, don’t use them, make your own style and build from there. Mr. Schoenfeld presents a fairly clear road map for successful punting/busking playback session.

Conclusion

Mr. Schoenfeld’s experience and knowledge really shows in the DVD and is presented clearly and easy to understand.  Hey, if he goes to fast, pause, rewind and repeat as many times as you like, it’s a DVD!  It’s like having Mr. Schoenfeld at your finger tips when ever you need him! I would recommend this training DVD for anyone that has the grasp of fixtures and control, but needs a course on live playback.

You can purchase your copy of Nook’s Ultimate Punt Pages from the Academy of Production Technology website, productionseminars.webs.com for $59.95.  If you still have a doubt in your mind or need a little more convincing, The Academy of Production Technology was kind enough to allow me to provide you with a sampling of the training DVD.  Some times, seeing is believing.

Review: Field Templates RULES! English Metric & Striplight Placemat Templates

People say that the old world charms are losing out to technology in this day and age of computers and the internet. It is faster and easy these days to shoot off a quick email, text or tweet to a person to say thank you or convey a message. What use to be the standard of taking time to hand write a note and send it in the mail has quickly evaporated and turned into pounding a keyboard, some quick mouse clicks and our message is sent instantly to a persons digital mailbox.

The same thing can be said about drafting these days.  With the wide assortment of computers aided Design Programs, (CAD), available to us, designing, updating and distributing our paperwork in a timely manner is just as easy. Before CAD programs, every thing was drafted by hand.  It is a true form of art in it’s own right.

If Steve Shelly has anything to say about it, the art of hand drafting is not totally lost.  In the past year, Mr. Shelly’s company, Field Templates has released two more plastic drafting templates to their LARGE collection of templates already available.  At USITT 2010, Field templates introduced the RULES! Striplight Placemat template and at LDI 2010, they released the RULES! English Metric template.

As with all of Field Templates “stencils”, they are made of 0.30″ thick semi transparent plastic and designed specifically for entertainment lighting drafting.  Field Templates does not just throw the most popular lighting symbols on to plastic and call it done.  They listen to designers, user and drafters and organize specific templates for the job.  From there the templates are laid out with Using the patented Pro*Trak 50 System, all of the symbols are pre-spaced 1′-6″ apart and aligned to horizontal axes (like a batten). This makes spacing and laying out your pipes quick and easy.

From there, Field Templates has added in numerous common fixture accessories and useful drafting aids to help make drafting quicker and easier. They pack a huge amount of information and guides along with the lights, accessories and guides not just cut through the plastic, but printed on the surface as well, such as scale rulers based on the scale of the template and reference points to help rotate fixtures on a pipe.

RULES! English Metric Field Template

As mentioned above, Field Templates has received a huge amount of request from designers and drafters over seas asking for metric specific templates to design with.  Field templates answered their calling with the RULES! English Metric Template.  What is really spectacular about the RULES! English Metric Template is that Field Templates laid out 32 fixtures and accessories not just in 1:25 scale, but repeated the 32 fixtures in 1:50 scale as well.  So one template is now giving you two scales two work in! Fixture symbols that are included range from ETC, Strand, Selecon, Robert Juliat, and Reich & Vogel along with some generic striplights and moving light symbols.

Two symbols that are included in the template is a headset cut out, which I think is pretty neat, but how useful, I am not sure.  The other symbol included is and electric symbol. This one confuses me a little as it was a huge request from the lampies over seas.  Someone from the UK will have to explain to me why a “lighting bolt” symbol for electric is required.

RULES! Striplight Placemat

The other template new from Field Templates in 2010 is exactly as it sounds, a template FULL of striplights.  Not just strip lights, but LED fixtures, some cyc fixtures and ground rows.  Again, Field Templates has added an assortment of accessories and profile cut outs to help draft striplights in a cross section.  The Striplights Placemat even includes gel cut sizes printed right on the template for quick reference. The template includes stencils for Color Kinetics, Selador, Source 4 Par strips, R40 and even MR16 strips.

Conclusion

Over all, both templates serve a specific use and offer a variety of choices for that specific use.  Both templates are MUCH larger then the traditional templates that many of us are accustomed to. They both roughly measure 10″ or more on the long edge.  Field templates is calling this an added feature as the templates can function as a separator in our huge production binder.

One thing I have always had an issue with ANY template, regardless of it it was made by field templates is that some symbols are a little close together and that small amount of plastic between them has the tendency to break.  Most times it is just a crack between the symbols, and not a huge problem as the symbol is still traceable.  In the RARE case, that small amount of plastic has completely snapped off.  Field template has designed all of their templates to minimize that.  With some love and care of your templates though, breakage should be minimal if any.

I love hand drafting when time allows and feel that it is an art form that could quickly disappear if not practiced on a regular bases. Pick up your favorite version of drafting templates from Fieldtemplate.com and draft by hand once and a while.  There is nothing like the smell of a #2 pencil and the feeling of producing a plot by hand.

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Book Review: The Designs of Jules Fisher

The history of lighting design is taught in almost every entry level theatre appreciation class at the college level in the states.  It almost every textbook associated with that level of class gives a brief and limited lesson of the history of lighting design and the pioneers of the our field. It’s in these classes that we begin to hear the names Appia, Melziner and other designers that shaped our future and formed the foundation of what we know and understand today.

But what about current designers and leaders in our industry?  Information and the history of designers of the late 20th century can be difficult to locate. The United States Institute for Theatre Technology is out to change that.  In the past year, USITT has released two books that help shed light on our not to distant past.  One of these books is The Designs of Jules Fisher by Delbert Unruh. As you might be able to tell from the title, the books is about the life and designs of legendary Broadway lighting designer, Mr. Jules Fisher. The book is a biography of sorts detailing the early life of Mr. Fisher and how magic influenced his life long passion for the arts and specifically lighting design.

John Lahr, senior drama critic for the New York Times and a a well-respected connoisseur of theatre in New York provided the foreword to The Designs book and writes with great passion and praise of one of Broadway’s leaders in lighting design. His words set the stage perfectly:

“If Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat, it could be said that Fisher, who has done the lighting design to over a hundred Broadway productions as well as the lights for such iconic New York pleasure domes as Studio 54, is the Sultan of Watt.  If he were one of his lights, in terms of his accomplishments (he has eight Tony Awards), Fisher should be a pin spot: bright, intense isolated in his uniqueness from every one around him. But Fisher, who is a gent as well as a giant in his field, gives off a cooler radiance: he’s an amber gel, I think: limpid, subtle, blending with the world around him.”

With praise and affection like this, it warms my heart that somebody truly recognizes what we do is an art. Fisher deserves this type of recognition as he has worked in the industry for most of his life and has dedicated his time and energy to innovation in lighting and developing techniques to accomplish dazzling effects and moods on stage. It is with this sentiment that The Designs as written.

With any biography, you can expect to learn and understand more about a person. This, of course, holds true for The Designs of Jules Fisher, but in a different way. While the book begins with the early years of Fisher’s life, we learn how magic and curiosity played a huge roll in developing one of the most well-known lighting designers Broadway stages and the silver screen has ever seen. After learning what has and continues to influence Fisher’s passion about lighting design, the book begins with his early career starting off with his summer job at Valley Forger Music Fair in 1954, his move to New York City in 1959 to work off-Broadway, and forward through the years.

The book is a time line of Fisher’s distinguished lighting design career and each show he’s lit. Along the way, the authors interject Fisher’s fondest and most memorable moments of each show and provides a bit of insight into what it was like.

[singlepic id=1124 w=320 h=240 float=left]All throughout the book, there are numerous amounts of production photos, lighting plots, and drawing details are included to help illustrate Fisher’s hard work, determination, and drive to advance the art of lighting design. Fisher is an innovator and throughout his career, he’s developed unique devices and lighting solutions that had never been though of before.  Scattered in the book are drawings of these solutions to problems that Fisher faced, such as designing a light that is able to pan and tilt remotely. Something that today’s designers take for granted was only just a dream until pioneers like Fisher started daring to dream big and take a chance on developing these types of off-the-wall ideas for their time.

The Designs of Jules Fisher provides an excellent overview of one of our industries leading designers, what influenced him then and still does today, and how he became one of the most successful lighting designers of our time. I have mentioned this before, but in order to understand where we are going and what is to come in our industry’s future, we must learn from past — learn about where we came from. History has a funny way of repeating itself. With the knowledge of our past, we can move forward and innovate in the same spirit as our predecessors and do the same for future generations of designers.

As a history buff and lighting designer, I recommend reading The Designs of Jules Fisher.  Not only does it paint a wonderful picture of the life of a great designer, but provides lessons for future designers on what it takes to not only practice our craft, but to be great at it.

In addition, Fisher shares his knowledge and passion of lighting by educating and developing the minds of future lighting designers through the Broadway Lighting Master Classes.  Mr. Fisher serves as the Creative Director of the event held in the spring time in New York City and hosted by Live Design. Mr. Fisher brings in some of the most well respected Broadway lighting designers of our time to share their passion and understanding of light.

With the book, The Designs of Jules Fisher and contributing his time and knowledge of the industry with the Broadway Lighting Master Classes, Mr. Fisher is ensuring the development of not just our industry, but the designers of today and into the future.

You can purchase a copy of The Designs of Jules Fisher through the USITT website.  Current USITT members pay $30 USD while non-members can purchase the book for $35.00.

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Review: Martin M1 Lighting Desk

At ProLight + Sound this year, Martin Professional announced to the world their latest control product, the M1 Lighting Desk. Martin is boasting the M1 as the next generation of Lighting control in the lighting industry.  With the form and function of the M1, it is pretty clear why they say that.

The M1 is a compact, portable and feature rich lighting desk compared to Martin’s other control desk options, the Maxxyz series of desks. There are numerous options and configurations available in the Maxxyz line up of desks, but nothing as affordable, lightweight and ready out of the box like the M1.

From the design and features built into the M1, I feel that Martin targeted the M1 to a specific portion of the market, the smaller touring market. At just under 32lbs., in a metal housing, the M1 is not only built tough, but looks tough.  With it’s solid construction, the M1 should have no troubles handling anything a life on the road will throw at it.

[singlepic id=1101 w=320 h=240 float=left]On the surface of the M1, there is control coming at you where ever you look at the desk. The M1 has plenty of sliders, executors and paging wheels to make your head spin at first glance. Off to the far left, you have your theatrical style main playback.  Just off to the right of the main playback are twelve single sliders with a function assignable button and twelve more single assignable buttons just below that. This is the first of two section of play backs. In the second section there are 10 playback faders, each with four function assignable functions right dead center of the desk for easy execution. No matter where your hands fall on the desk or what type of playback you might need, you’ll never be to far away from a playback.

If you did the math quick enough, that means that there are only thirty four places on the M1 to assign something for a playback.  Don’t forget about the paging wheels.  The ten center playbacks and the twenty four playbacks to the right have their own paging wheel to access even more playback underneath, up to 100 pages.

The M1 makes available 1000 cuelist which can be assigned to sliders with fade control or playbacks with control buttons. On top of those 1000 cuelist, you have the ability to add as many cues as you like with no restriction based on cue count. Just a bit of playback space no?

To help make the M1 even more lightweight and portable, Martin included a fold up 13”  touch screen.  No more worrying about if the monitors made it to the show, it’s built into the desk.

[singlepic id=1106 w=320 h=240 float=left]At the time of the review, the M1’s software was still in beta and wasn’t able to run a second monitor for more heads up display.  Martin has already fixed this issue and updated the software to were the display port on the back of the M1 offers the ability to add a second monitor which also support ELO USD touch screens.

Under the hood of the M1 is an industrial motherboard with an dual core Intel Processor, integrated graphics all in a modular construction for easy repairs and replacement if something should ever go wrong. The M1 also features a 2.5” SATA hard drive at eighty gigs in size which is more then plenty to run the OS and save plenty of backups to your shows.

Speaking of Operating Systems, the M1 works off an industrial version of Windows XP embedded.  Before the end of 2010, Martin is expecting to upgrade to Windows 7 embedded giving the M1 the power and performance of Windows 7. This will be a free software update from Martin. Now I tried my hardest, it was impossible to “break into” the Windows side of the desk, meaning Martin has locked down the core OS pretty well.  Since the desk is based on Windows, saving and opening shows off of a USB jump drive is just as simple as on a PC.

[singlepic id=1105 w=320 h=240 float=left]Control on the M1 should never become an issue.  Starting off with four universes of DMX right off the bat, smaller shows should have no problem controlling any small to medium sized moving rig.  As time goes on, adding fixtures to any rig might cause a hiccup in control as those four universes of DMX quickly become filled.  Not a problem with the M1.  As your rig grows so can the M1’s universe count.  While the M1 starts off with only 4 universes, you can add universes to the desk via universe licenses, up to 12 total via networking and Artnet.

For most of us, 6,144 parameters of DMX might be a bit much for our needs, but as time goes by and your rig keeps growing, you might out grow the M1.  In the distant future when that time comes, you may have to upgrade to one of Martins Maxxyx line up of consoles.  The best part is, you will not have to learn an new programing syntax!  The M1 is the same programing syntax as Martin’s Maxxyz consoles.  In fact, it is the same operating system!  Now, if you are already a Maxxyz programmer, perfect, you already know the M1.

The M1 is based on the Maxxyz, layout and function of the desks are exactly alike.  The M1 utilizes programmer and playback state of the console.  The programmer side being where we enter the changes we like and then store them into some sort of playback whether that be a cue or submaster.  The playback side of the desk is just as it sounds where these cue list, cues, effect, whatever you like to call them are, you guessed it played back.

Now if you feel that you need additional playback sliders at your finger tips and thirty four is just not enough, why not add a Max Module Playback, Button or Submaster Module? Since the M1 is based on the Maxxyz Console, the desk is easily expandable to your needs with addition sliders, executor buttons or submasters.

[singlepic id=292 w=320 h=240 float=left]You can even connect the M1 to a wireless access point and wirelessly connect an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch and run the free app from Martin, the MaxRemote.  Just like any console remote like the MaxRemote, you have to have a little bit of network savviness to connect everything correctly.  As a lighting professional in the digital age, this type of responsibility is required and demanded of us more and more.

After setting everything up correctly on the network, and on the iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch, using the MaxRemote to focus, program and run a show is fairly easy and straight forward after learning the Maxxyz syntax.  The MaxRemote is a useful tool when connected to the M1 to fine tune focus points while on stage and away from the desk.

Overall, the M1 is a rugged, well designed and laid out touring desk.  It has power behind it that can control almost any medium sized rig with no problem and has the ability to grow with your rig. I feel that the M1 was designed to be a busking desk and it shows with the amount of playbacks offered on the surface.  It also offers the ability to playback as a traditional theatrical style desk making it very flexible. The M1 can be used in a wide variety of venues from traditional theatre, live performance, corporate events, the list can go on and on.

Don’t believe me, the M1 has already seen some action on some larger shows such as the World Cup. Not a bad start for a new console making it’s way to primetime in less then six months. I expect to see and hear about the M1 on many more shows and events of this size.  You can follow the M1’s adventure on Facebook.  You can also see the M1 up close and personal on the Martin Roadshow which is touring around the country this summer.

To learn more about the Martin M1 Lighting Desk, visit www.martin.com. Hve you had a chance to work on the Martin M1 Desk?  What do you think?  I would love to hear your comments about the desk and of course, this review.

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Revision of ACN Standards Up for Review

All right, all you control freaks, (I mean that in a good way), get your thinking caps on.  The ESTA Technical Standards Program just announced that the revisions of the ACN or Architecture for Control Networks protocol documents are up for public review.

If you are smart and can understand the documents, ESTA is calling on you for your help in reviewing and making sure this standard is well, up to standards!  Here is a little background on the document up for public review:

BSR E1.17-201x is a revision of ANSI E1.17-2006, Entertainment Technology – Architecture for Control Networks (ACN), which is a suite of documents that specifies an architecture, including protocols and language, that may be configured and combined with other standard protocols to form flexible, networked audio, lighting, or other control systems. It can be implemented on networks that support UDP, IP, and related protocols. The revision is to correct errors and to improve functionality.

What are you waiting for?  Head over to the TSP site and download the documents and review them! All documents and review forms must be back to ESTA by August 24, 2010.

Review: Luminair for iPad

When rumors of the Apple iPad started to become serious and it came to realization, everyone went crazy with excitement. One company in our industry, Synthe FX, also became excited about the idea of the iPad and started making big plans. Synthe FX is the developer of the “lighting desk in your pocket,” or Luminair, the iPhone app. Synthe FX expanded on the original design of the iPhone app and developed a version of the popular iPhone app that runs natively on the iPad, Luminair for iPad. With the iPads larger display, about the size of four iPhones or 1024 x 768 pixel viewable area, Synth FX added several new and exciting features to the iPad version.  Seventy-five percent of Luminair for iPad was completely rewritten from scratch for the larger display and to give live events and performance greater control.

Capabilities

Since Luminair for iPad runs on the iPad, a pretty portable device, you can take your console with you as you move throughout the location. The design of Luminair for iPad allows you to run your entire show wirelessly and operate as a remote focus unit, or almost anything other use for a DMX console. Setting up and using Luminair for iPad to control a lighting rig is fairly simple. With a little bit of knowledge of wireless networking and how Art-Net functions, getting up and running can be a snap.

After you have purchased your iPad and your very own copy of Luminair for iPad, you still need a bit of third party hardware in order for the app to talk to you rig. First thing you will need is a wireless access point or router to connect the iPad with your console to send DMX signal out of Luminair for iPad. From there we need a way to translate the Art-Net, which is the protocol for sending DMX over UDP/IP networking to DMX signal to the rig. There are a ton of devices out on the market that translate Art-Net to DMX. One device that is relatively inexpensive and work well in this situation is the Enttec ODE or Open DMX Ethernet device. But as I mentioned, there are quite a few DMX nodes or devices out on the market that can translate Art-Net to DMX.

My goal here is not a step by step installation and setup guide, but to give an overall view of Luminair for iPad. I, myself, used the above mentioned wireless access point and Enttec ODE for the review and found set up straightforward and simple. If you find yourself in trouble, Synthe FX makes a step by step guide on how to connect your network available on their website.

Layout

After setting up Luminair for iPad and all of the network devices and of course my rig, it was time to get playing with Luminair. If you are familiar with the iPhone version of Luminair, then Luminair for iPad will come to you easily (only on a bigger display).

With the multi-touch ability that the iPad offers, Synthe FX took total advantage of this interface control to offer the user what seems awkward at first only because we are used to single point interface with computers. The multi-touch control and input type becomes pretty easy to understand and use if you have ever had to run multiple sliders on a desk at once. Combine Luminair for iPad’s multi-touch control and user interface with controlling and playing with fixtures and recalling cues becomes natural.

[singlepic id=1070 w=320 h=240 float=left]It’s important to know that Luminair for iPad handles any type of device. Synthe FX handles devices a little bit differently than a typical lighting controller. Even though there is a similarity of a slider from 0% to 100% or in true DMX signal 0 to 255, Synthe FX labels these as tracks in Luminair for iPad. Tracks consist of set of parameters: parameter by intensity, RGB mixing or XY coordinates, (pan & tilt), and a single track handles those parameters. Here is where a curve ball is thrown in. Luminair for iPad offers the ability to patch a device from a template or fixture profile in the app, similar to how we select a device profile in most modern lighting desks. Now, most modern lighting desks handle a device with either a single fixture ID or channel number.  But, Luminair for iPad functions a little differently. For a single device, the different sets of parameters are broken down into individual tracks with the associated parameter labeled at the bottom. So for a 23 parameter device like a Mac 700 Profile, you will have 8 different tracks, or “sliders” to operate that one device. This may become a little bit of a problem when you start patching 2 or more high parameter count fixtures because some horizontal sliding across tracks will be required.

Now that we have an understanding of how Luminair for iPad handles devices with tracks, the next important step in any lighting controller, is setting up our patch. Again, Luminair for iPad handles this in a unique way. After you have selected which fixture type or parameter you want the new track to control, you have to assign that track to a specific DMX address for each parameter. Rather then using the common syntax of 1 @ 1 or Address 1 at Channel 1, you get a display of the DMX address available on the single universe of DMX that you are using. Simply selecting the correct DMX address will patch that track to that address.

[singlepic id=1085 w=320 h=240 float=left]But there are more options and functions available within patch or channels display within Luminair for iPad. Lets take a closer look at patching a simple and generic RGB mixing device.  Say we want to patch a track starting at address 1. We have the RGB device addressed at 1 as well.  As we all know, that simple and generic RGB mixer take 3 DMX address to function, so we have to patch them within Luminair for iPad as so. Starting off with address one, after selecting it, the box turns to red and has an “r” in it representing that the Red is patched there. Then to patch Green we would simply select 2, it turns red, but we need green! Select 2 again and the box turns green with a small “g” in the box. Great, Green is patched. We do the same for Blue by selecting address 3 and select it until it turns Blue with a b in the box. Done! Our simple generic RGB mixer is ready to operate!

[singlepic id=1081 w=320 h=240 float=left]Let’s look even closer at the individual tracks for an RGB or CMY mixing device. The main control of the track, what I am calling the slider, is the intensity control of the fixture. With Luminair for iPad, Synthe FX added some features under the track controls and the color wheel picker. You are still able to choose any color from the color wheel, along with saving that color to what we might call a color palette or color preset for quick recall of that color across color mixing devices.

A new feature added to Luminair for iPad from the iPhone version is Groups.  I mentioned that your control screen may get filled up with tracks pretty quick. Luminair for iPad offers the ability to group like devices or any tracks that you want to control into one group. Rather than having 10 individual tracks or patching all 10 dimmers into one track that controls my front of house wash, I can keep my 10 individual tracks for separate control and make a new group that controls them all together.  This also frees up some space in the control section in the app while still offering the 10 individual tracks for control.

All of this control is great, but what about playback? Luminair for iPad wouldn’t be much of a lighting controller with out the ability to playback looks or cues that we have created within the app. Just like the iPhone version, Luminair offers the ability to record cues or looks and have them playback just like we would expect a traditional lighting desk to with fade times. Just like a typical desk, cues can be arranged into stacks for traditional playback or for chase effects, the possibilities are limited only to your imagination.

With the release of Luminair 2.0 for the iPhone earlier this year, Synthe FX worked closely with Cast Software to integrate some controls and function between Luminair and WYSIWYG.  Luminair 2.0 added the ability to see your cues in a cover flow display. With integration from WYSIWYG release 25, you can take a snap shot of your rendering and import that image into Luminair and attach that to a cue. So in cover flow view, you can horizontally swipe through your images of cues and execute them right there. Synthe FX included that function in Luminair for iPad.

[singlepic id=1076 w=320 h=240 float=left]Another feature that has been added to Luminair for iPad is the ability to view and capture incoming DMX from a single universe of DMX values from another control device on the network.  From the controls view, you can bring up the DMX input view and see what each address on the universe of DMX is outputting. Synthe FX took it a step further and added the ability to record the incoming DMX signal as a cue for replay right from the app. Just add another use for Luminair for iPad, a full back-up console to your rig!

[singlepic id=1073 w=320 h=240 float=left]What about saving shows, something that is MOST important in any programmer’s view. Since the introduction of Luminair for the iPhone and now for the iPad, Synthe FX has made it possible to open and save show files on your device within the app. Even though Apple does not offer a file system for saving and storing files like we are use to either on a Mac or PC. Luminair for iPad offers the ability to save different shows files right on the iPad. Synthe FX also included a simple web server access to Luminair so you can connect to the app via any computer with a browser to connect and transfer files back and forth. This makes backing up and saving show files quick and easy.

Wrap Up

There are some things that seems to be lacking in my eyes with Luminair for iPad, specifically when dealing in gobos and color wheels parameters of devices on a track.  Likewise, any indexing wheel track on Luminair for iPad doesn’t offer any additional options or graphics when choosing an index on a wheel. As a result, we still left have to bring the slider to a specific level so the wheel moves to the appropriate level. Not a deal breaker by any means, but maybe a future update for Luminair for iPad?

There is nothing like Luminair for iPad on the market. There are, of course, similar apps for both the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, but nothing comes close to being a fully functional lighting console on any of our favorite Apple portable products. Overall, Synthe FX put a huge amount of time and effort into developing Luminair for iPad and it really shows. Configuration and setup are a breeze. Bringing tracks to a level and recording cues are simple. Synthe FX makes an interesting point when explaining the ease and use of Luminair for iPad, building and playing back shows is as easy as creating an iTunes playlist. Not a bad explanation! Synthe FX even included a sleep override function into the app.  Rather than having the iPad “go to sleep” and lose the connection to your network, Synthe FX added a simple override function to the app settings that keeps the app and iPad active while you are programming or playing back a show.  Simple things like that make Luminair for iPad stand out and show the lighting industry that yes, there really is an app for that!

To learn more about Luminair for iPad, visit Synthe FX web site at www.synthe-fx.com.  To pick up a copy of Luminair for iPad, visit the iTunes App Store for $129.99.

Your Thoughts

What did you think of the review?  Do you have Luminair for the iPad, did I miss something?  Leave your thoughs in the comment section of this review, I would love to hear what you think.

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