Now that automated lighting fixtures are becoming common
in houses of worship, many churches are finding it necessary to update their
lighting controllers to fully take advantage of this technology. During my
recent visit to LDI 2010, I encountered many new lighting control products that
are truly on the cutting edge of technology. Unfortunately, many of these
products are so technically sophisticated it seems that a computer geek is
required to program them. This is not ideal for houses of worship that depend
on people who are not MIT graduates to program and run their lighting boards.
Mega Systems has come up with a novel idea. Why not
design a sophisticated automated lighting controller that is designed to be
extremely simple to program and run? Mega System's console designers have met
this challenge with the Enlighten DMX Lighting Control Software and Control
Wing.
Originally, Mega Systems developed its excellent control
software designed as a standalone product for a personal computer running
Windows. The Enlighten DMX Lighting software was relatively inexpensive,
especially when compared to conventional lighting control boards. It had a
simple virtual button-based user interface based on tried and true "drop
and drag" features. Although the software was successful in its own right,
users wanted a more "hands-on" interface with real control dials and
buttons. To answer its customers needs, Mega Systems recently introduced a
hardware control wing that is specifically designed for their Enlighten
software.
Mega Systems was kind enough to send the Enlighten DMX
Lighting Control Software and their new Control Wing to our lighting lab at
California State University, Long Beach. We used the Enlighten for several
weeks on student projects incorporating automated lights, as well as on a
department production using conventional lighting fixtures. As usual, I
challenged my students to explore the software and see if they could break it.
I am happy to report that they failed. Not once did they crash the software
(unlike many other Windows-based lighting controllers).
The software uses easy-to-understand graphical virtual
"buttons" that represent lighting fixtures and cues. Instead of
naming lights according to channels, each light (or group of lights) can be
named according to its function. For instance, instead of "Channel
1," you could name the light "Podium Front." Instead of
"Channels 23, 24, and 25," you can name that group of lights "Choir
Blue Wash." These buttons can be moved around on the screen in any
arrangement or sequence. This allows the user to create standardized lighting
looks for certain parts of the worship program that can be rearranged for
different services. It also makes much more sense than having to completely
re-program the lighting sequences just because the worship songs may be in a
different order from week to week. You can see how intuitive this would be for
someone programming a service.
You can also drag and drop, and organize these buttons on
the monitor in any way you desire. You are, in fact, creating a magic sheet on
the computer screen. You can also set up multiple views for different sets of
lights. For instance, you can have one screen view of all your front light,
another screen view of your "specials," another screen view of your
moving lights, etc. You can also group lights across multiple views. By
pointing with your mouse and curser to the button, you can activate the light
and change its level, or control its attributes (if it is a moving light).
In the "Programming Mode" you record cues by
choosing multiple lights through their buttons, controlling their attributes,
and placing them into a sequence button. This creates a graphical cue list with
multiple cue buttons in the sequence. Unlike a standard cue list or timeline,
changing the order of these graphical cue sequences is quite easy and
intuitive. You can always insert a cue by placing it between two cue buttons.
Deleting cues is just as easy. In addition, you can control multiple sequences
with one button.
This appeal to the non-technical user continues in the
hardware design of the Control Wing. Instead of intimidating black buttons on
dark grey backgrounds, there are soft white backlit buttons a light grey
background. The wheels feel spongy and friendly to the touch. My students who
are used to the hard technology of modern lighting controllers commented how
unusual this design was. But they also appreciated how more novice users could
find this inviting.
Top-of-the-list FindingsWe found that Mega Systems offers
an excellent color-picker for moving lights. It proved to be quite helpful and
accurate in its matching CMY moving lights to standard Rosco and Lee colors.
There is also a very useful gobo-picker that displays the actual gobo patterns
in a window. The patterns include the stock gobos in numerous moving lights.
You can also insert custom gobos into the library as you add them into your
moving lights. This feature, along with the color-picker, will enable you to
pre-program the colors and patterns without turning on the lights. Additional
features include a preset library of moving light effects, a LED Matrix engine
along with LED macros, moving light Palette presets, easy-to-create fixture groups,
and a shape generator for movements with offsets.
As an added bonus, Mega Systems includes a rudimentary
visualization program in the software. The console does export Art-Net, which
should enable the Enlighten to link with sophisticated visualization programs
like Cast's WYSIWYG or ESP's Vision. This would permit complete off-line
pre-visualization to the Enlighten.
From our testing we found a few minor issues. Although
the set-up was relatively straightforward, we felt that it would be a great
help to include a printed user manual. Considering the worship market that Mega
Systems has designed this console for, a printed manual would assist neophyte
users. To its credit, Mega Systems has a comprehensive "Help List"
section on its website, as well as a step-by-step wizard in the software that
addresses many of the questions we had.
Regarding the hardware Control Wing, several of my
students commented that they would have preferred the printed labeling of the
attribute wheels below the wheels instead of above. They found it difficult to
see the labeling from a sitting position. Other manufacturers have addressed
this design with small LED panels under the wheels, allowing the labeling to
dynamically change depending on the function of the wheel. However, it is easy
to imagine how this would raise the price of the Control Wing significantly.
The Mega Systems Enlighten DMX Control Software and
Control Wing is clearly designed for the worship market. Although some in the
theatrical world may feel that it incorporates an unusual programming and
playback syntax, when you clear your mind of previous control designs you will
see that Enlighten's software design may be superior for the worship market.
For those with little experience in conventional and automated lighting
control, this software is very easy to grasp. Remember, the less time you spend
trying to figure out the light board, the more time you can devote to your
lighting art.
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