This is the archive, no???

Review: Fixture Tester iOS App

Back towards the end of November, a new lighting app came out in iTunes for Bart van Stiphout called Fixture Tester.  Bart was kind enough to provide a review copy of the app for me to write a review of the app.  But what is Fixture Tester?

The Fixture Tester App is exactly as it sounds, a way to test moving lights all from your favorite iOS device.  Fixture Tester gives us the ability to trouble shoot and test a fixture any where with in range of a WiFi access point that is connected to the rig.  The app uses Art-Net to send signal to the fixtures.

With a selected fixture that you want to test, Fixture Tester offers the ability to run simple macros such as lamping on a fixture, test whether a fixture is patch and address correctly and run the parameters of the fixture through a simple set of test.

You may begin to ask yourself, what is the point of such an app when most well known console manufactures and other iOS apps out there offer the same sort of testing and diagnosis of our rig. Fixture Tester is an independent app thats sole purpose is to test and trouble shoot a fixture on a rig.  The app can work in conjunction with almost any lighting desk out there.  While board op is writing cues or setting up the desk, an electrician can run through the entire rig and check to make sure each device is operating correctly.  If a fixture is acting up, the electrician can get to that fixture, still connected to the rig via WiFi and use Fixture Tester to trouble shoot it, all while independent of the desk.

Another use for the Fixture Tester App could be rental houses.  When ever a fixture comes in our goes out for rental, each fixture needs to be checked and made sure it operates correctly.  The Fixture Tester App could be a perfect fix for that application by setting up a simple WiFi access point with a single Art-Net translator, and BAM, the service techs can quickly and easily check fixtures with the app rather then using desk from rental stock.

Something to be aware of is that the Fixture Tester App speaks Art-net.  That means that our rig either must be speaking Art-Net or have an Art-Net translator some where in the rig to function correctly.  Not a huge problem, just something to think about when trying to implement Fixture Tester into our rigs.

As for fixture profiles or templates, the road maps of how a fixtures DMX address are assigned, the Fixture Tester app comes filled with a wide variety of manufactures and fixture types already available with in the app.  If a particular fixture isn’t available, not to fear, the developer has created a programed called FileUploader that you can create dmXLAN patchfiles and upload to the app via the settings tab.  FileUploader is a free download right from the developers website.

The Fixture Tester app is a universal app meaning that it will run on all three iOS devices, the iPhone, iPod Touch and the iPad. Running $24.99 for the app seems a little up there in cost, but with any app, if it fits your needs and makes our lives easier, $24.99 is a small price to pay when time and money are saved while being on site. The app does exactly as described and can be a very useful and powerful tool in our ever growing digital tool box. Visit the iTunes app store and purchase your copy of the Fixture Tester App.

Have you used the Fixture Tester App?  What did you think of this review?  Please share your comments, reviews and thoughts about the app below in the comment section of this review.

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The Living Christmas Tree – Riverdale Baptist Church

I love the holiday season! The cold crisp air, the festive mood that everyone is in and of course the LIGHTS! driving down my block each night coming home is always a treat to see the houses lite up to celebrate the season.  Then there are the houses that put their lights to music and put on a show, I love it! It just makes me so happy to see everyone playing with light and bringing cheer to everyone.

Another thing I love about this time of year are Living Christmas Trees.  No I am not talking about a douglas fir coming to life and spreading needles all over the place.  I’m talking about huge theatrical style shows that employs vast amounts of string lights, dimmers, midi control and carolers singing within a tree.

I had the pleasure of being invited to the Living Christmas Tree, (LCT) at Riverdale Baptist Church in Upper Marlboro, Maryland the other weekend.  The LCT was a two and a half hour show which included the choir singing Christmas Carols accompanied by a full orchestra and an adaptation of Charles Dicken’s, A Christmas Carol called The Gospel According to Scrooge.

The LCT lighting was designed by Riverdale’s resident Lighting designer and iSquint Columnist, John Hathcock. There is a reason you have not seen any new columns from John on iSquint as of late due to the vast amount of time that he dedicated to this design.  Not only did he have to design and program lights from the drama, but the caroling and the Living Christmas Tree as well.

Then entire rig, consisting of 22 various types of moving lights, 20 LED fixtures, 36 source fours, 12 source four pars, snow machines, Aquafoggers, a hazer and over 50,000 string lights, was all controlled of an ETC Ion with midi time control.  In the end, John used over 800+ cues on the Ion to control the entire rig for the 2.5 hour show.

The highlight of the show for me had to be the beginning of the show.  When you walk into the worship center, I was taken back just how large of a production this is.  Center stage is the Living Christmas Tree that held all 85 members of the choir. Then off to either side was the stages where the drama was to take place. Down front, the 35+ member orchestra. While finding my seat and taking all of this in and gushing at the size of the rig over head, the four Cyberlights are slowly sweeping the audience with snow flakes. It’s at this point, I knew I was in for a good light show.

The first hour of the Living Christmas Tree was the choir singing from the LCT with the orchestra. John used his rig to it’s fullest, saturating the space with colors, textures from gobos and various movements that moved with the songs. Added to all of this was the Living Christmas Tree… AMAZING! You may have seen string lights dance to music before, but nothing compares to a Living Christmas Tree lights dancing along with a live choir, orchestra and moving lights.  It still boggles my mind how much time and effort was spend just on the string lights in order for them to move with each song.

From there was the start of the drama, The Gospel according to Scrooge.  We all know the story of Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol and how Scrooge is visited by three spirits on the eve of Christmas and finds the true meaning of Christmas.  The Gospel According to Scrooge follows the same lines but finds God along the way.

After the show, I got a chance to see back stage of the Living Christmas Tree.  It was amazing to see how 85 choir members filled up the tree.  They were so tightly packed together! Then of course all the wire and dimmers connecting the tree lights… I just hope a lamp doesn’t go out, I have a hard enough time trying to fix a string on my own Christmas tree, I can’t imagine how to find a dead lamp on the Living Christmas Tree!

I had a wonderful time at the show! Everything from the lights to the singing and drama really set the mood for a wonderful holiday season.  A huge thank you to Riverdale Baptist Church and John for inviting Renee and I to the Living Christmas Tree this year.  We had a great time and look forward to the 25th anniversary next year!

Lighting Gear:

  • 36 Source 4 Lekos, various degrees
  • 12 Source 4 PAR EA’s
  • 8 HES Studio Colors
  • 6 Elation Design Spot 300 Pro’s
  • 4 Elation Design Spot 250 Pro’s
  • 4 HES Cyberlights
  • 1 Reel eFX DF-50 Hazer
  • 4 Antari S-200 Snow Machines
  • 10 Elation ELED 60 Strip lights
  • 10 ColorKey 10MM Led PAR’s
  • 2 Altman Satellite Followspots
  • 3 Rental CTI Aquafogger 3300’s

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Review: One Week With the iPad

After using the iPad for a solid week now, it has really changed my work flow both here on iSquint and in my personal life. I have been pleasantly surprised how well the iPad is able to keep me connected not only via email, but also Twitter and the ability to write on the site via the word press app. I’ll speak more about that in a moment. As for the personal life, the iPad has become my device of choice for simple things in life such as google searches and quick updates view the multitude of apps available not only for the iPad but also for the iPhone.

Let’s begin with the design of the iPad. The screen is super bright, so bright that I have found that I keep it at half of it’s full brightness regardless of inside or outside in the sun. In either case, the screen is plenty bright to see and function.

One thing that I do love about the iPad is the ability to lock the position of the iPad’s viewing angle. I have found that I love working on the iPad in landscape mode. Not only does it give me a larger keypad, but in certain apps, like say mail, my inbox is always visible off to the left. That also holds true for some of the apps that have been specifically developed for the iPad.

Speaking of the keyboard, I mentioned in the unboxing write up about how the landscape mode displays a larger keyboard that is about the same size as the smaller USB or Bluetooth keyboard that apple offers for their mac’s. I have even found the familiar auto correction found in the iPhone functions just as expected and has already begun to recognize words that I am typing along with common words that I use over and over. Something that isn’t found on the iPhone but on the iPad is spell correction. If you miss spell a word that auto correction doesn’t catch, just like on a mac, you can easily see a red line under the word and hold down on that word and get a listing of words that might be correct.

Enough of my love affair so far with the iPad, what about the lighting apps?!  All of my lighting apps transferred over to the iPad just fine.  Since the screen is larger, Apple has given us the option to zoom in on the iPhone apps on the iPad.  You can also view them in the normal size from the iPhone, but there is a bunch of wasted space.  What I am a little disappointed in is the rendering of the entire app, even the UI native from the iPhone when zoomed in on the iPad.  Every iPhone app running on the iPad zoomed in is pixelated and not so elegant as if running on the iPhone.  You would have thought that at least the native UI elements such as the keyboard on the iPad would be correctly re-sized, but no.  It really is not a huge deal, but still a little disappointing.

To help put your nerves to rest, I have talked with a number of Lighting App developers and from what little I am allowed to mention, all I can say is be prepared!  We have already seen a screen shot of Synthe FX next app that will run native on the iPad and not just the iPhone app running on the iPad.  It will take some time for lighting app developers to port their iPhone apps to run natively on the iPad, so don’t hold your breath for anything any time soon, but they are working on it.

Over all, I am loving the iPad, it has a long battery life, excellent screen resolution and is quite pleasant to hold in one hand.  As an early adopter, I am loving the freedom that the iPad is giving me.  I find that I am not pulling out the MacBook more and more for simple searches, web surfing and writing on the site.  It is a mildly large investment depending on what version of the iPad you are looking at, but it might just change the way you look at mobile computing.

As for not waiting for the iPad 3G version, I am very happy with my choice of going with just the WiFi version.  Yes, it is a slight pain to wait for the Sprint MiFi to boot up and connect and then only lasting about 4-5 hours, but thus far it has been working like a champ.  Working off a MiFi is just like being connected to any WiFi like my home or office network and always available where ever I am.

One negative about the iPad is I am finding that when I switch back to the MacBook or the MacPro, I keep wanting to touch the screen just like on the iPad.  I have really become accustomed to just touching what I want rather then relying on a mouse.  It’s just something I have to remember where I am and what I can touch and not touch!

Update: Looks like i trusted auto correction a little too much! Thanks for the typo catches Mark!

One Week with the iPad

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Review: Concert Lighting, Third Edition

Concert Lighting - Third EditionA while back, Focal Press announced one of their latest books, Concert Lighting, Third Edition: Techniques, Art & Business by James L. Moody. I was fortunate enough to receive a copy from the publisher to write a review of the book.  It has taken some time for me to read through the book.  Not because it is 352 pages long, but that it is packed with some great information and history. In order to do a proper review, I wanted to full comprehend and take in everything that Mr. Moody wrote.

Let’s take a look at the description of the book from Focal Press:

Get ready to pack your bags and go on tour with the most trusted and comprehensive text for concert lighting. With a special focus on rock and roll, learn how to use computer aided drafting, moving luminaires, learn about the people and the history that shaped the field and more. Expand your design possibilities by learning about cross-media use of concert lighting techniques and their application in film, video, theatre and the corporate world. From snagging those precious contracts to knowing the best equipment to use to designing a show, Concert Lighting: Techniques, Art and Business covers everything you need to know.

History of the book

This is Mr. Moody’s third edition of Concert Lighting with the first edition being released in 1989, the second edition being released in 1997 and then this, the third edition being published late 2009.  Every ten years, Mr. Moody seems to be updating the book with more information and history which completely understandable.  Over the course of just the past ten years, the lighting industry has seen some wonderful new technologies come around and put into the market.  Not only does Mr. Moody cover the history of products, but gives a unique look at how new products came to life and how they got their start first in the concert realm of lighting and then moving into other entertainment lighting markets.

What the book covers

Mr. Moody has been in the lighting industry for 30+ years and has seen the industry grow, change and adapt to new technologies, styles of lighting and management.  The main focus of the book is to help guide the reader through the adventure of becoming a lighting professional at which ever level they desire. But in order to be prepared and ready for almost anything you do in life, you have to understand where things began and how they came to what they are. During the course of the book, Mr. Moody shares his views and memories of how lighting has evolved. All the while Mr. Moody is providing a detailed guide of how a concert lighting event is began and finished with detailed examples and explanations of everything that is involved with putting on an event. Ever wonder the different levels and responsibilities of a production team for a tour is structured? That is covered and explained in detail. Mr. Moody covers everything from the ground up with a live event production leaving out no detail.

With the Third Edition of the book, Mr. Moody has added some of the latest technologies and products that have been developed and released since the last edition of the book.  Provided in the book are snapshots and quick overviews of some of these products such as LED lighting fixtures, the latest lighting consoles, media servers and of course moving lights.

Towards the end of the book is one of my favorite sections and reading materials, interviews with working professionals.  Mr. Moody interviewed some of the top lighting designers in the industry today.  It is always fascinating to see how a working professional got his start and how they have developed their techniques along the way.  It gives the reader a glimpse of their own potential with in the lighting industry.

Who is the book for

With the levels of details that Mr. Moody goes into on every subject and all of the history and stories he provides, the book can provide a great read for any technician, at any level of experience in the business.  But the book is targeted at providing the entry level or newbie a detailed understanding of where the concert lighting world came from and how it pioneered specific technologies and products to all of the entertainment lighting industry. Concert Lighting, Third Edition is a great addition to any professionals or aspiring professionals bookshelf. If not for the history lessons, certainly for the wealth of knowledge and insight into the lighting industry Mr. Moody puts forth into the book.

Conclusion

Thank you Mr. Moody and Focal Press for providing an advanced copy of the book to write this review.  You can pick up your copy of Concert Lighting, Third Edition: Techniques, Art & Business from Focal Press’s website www.focalpress.com. For just $49.95, the book could help pave your way and guide you into the concert lighting industry.

Have you read Concert Lighting, Third Edition?  I would love to hear your thoughts on the book.  Leave a message in the comment section of this review below.

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Review: Rosco Strobist Gel Collection

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about an interesting product from Rosco Labs, the Rosco Strobist Collection Kit. While this does not have to do directly with Entertainment lighting, it is still worth a mention as a designer we must document our work for our records and our portfolio. Rosco Labs was kind enough to send me a sample of the Strobist Kit to test out the color corrections and write a review here on iSquint.

First, let’s hear what Rosco has to say about the Strobist Collection:

Rosco, the worldwide leader in color filters has assembled the essential collection of filters for use with your on-board flash. Rosco has been manufacturing color filters since 1910 and our Cinegel range of color filters has earned two Academy Awards™. Working with David Hobby, the founder of www.strobist.com, The Strobist Collection contains the Cinegel filters photographers need, properly sized (1.5″ x 3.25″) to fit most shoe-mount strobes. There are 20 different colors inside with multiple pieces of each color for a total of 55 pieces of filter.

So what comes in the Rosco Strobist Kit.  Think of the kit as a normal swatch book with only the colors that you might need to correct colors of a photo with the use of a flash. The size of the cuts of gel are the same exact size from the normal Rosco gel swatch book, minus the hole from the pin. The cuts of gel are already the perfect size to place in front of most standard shoe mounted strobes.  While there is no specific way to attach the gel to the front of your strobe, using tape will work just fine.  In my case, I used a flash hood not only to help diffuse and soften the flash, but to hold the gel cuts in front of our strobe. The cuts of gel were a little larger then the size of my flash hood, but the gel easily flexed a little inside the flash hood while still giving me the same effect.

My camera of choice is my Nikon D80 and Nikkor DX 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G lens with a Nikon SB 28DX Flash. Each of my review photos was taken at a distance of 2.5′ with an ISO 200, F 5.3, and a speed of 1/60 so that each photo was consistently the same except for adding of the gel. Have to be some what scientific about this testing!

From the gallery of images below, you can get an idea of what the Strobist Gel kit has to offer to change the look and color of the scene you are trying to capture. Most if not all of these color corrections can certainly happen in post production, but it is always better to do less in post and frame and correct the shot before hand.

Is the Rosco Strobist Gel Kit worth the $9.95 it cost to color correct your images while on location?  I am going to leave that question for you to answer.  For me, the Strobist Kit will be a nice addition to my camera bag.

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LDI 2008 Mobile Show App

Are you attending LDI 2008 in Las Vegas this year? If so, Live Design, the people that put on LDI have something for you.

To help you at the show with finding booths and the latest show info, Live Design has created a  web app for the iPhone and iTouch.  You will be able to get up to the minute details about the show, what’s happening and when it is happening.

A nice feature is the booth information.  Rather then carring around the massive show book with all the ad’s and booth listing, you’ll have access to that right in your iPhone or iTouch.

The down fall of this service is that it depends on an internet connection.  While this is not a problem with the iPhone as there is the Edge or 3G band avilable in the convention center, iTouch user have to connect to a WiFi hotspot.  While the convention center does have WiFi all over the center, you have to pay for the service.

This is service is powered or sponsored by Lee Filters.

Click the screen shot above to go directly to the Live Design Web App.

© 2020 Justin Lang Design, All rights reserved.