Control Console

[BobJ]

We are a volunteer organization and due to budget considerations bought a King Kong DMX controller. Actually, once you get over the useless instructions it could be quite a good board. But it is plagued with glitches and idiosyncrasies. We have an old Elation 3 in the main theatre and really like the ability to plug in a channel number and a intensity value. We're looking at the Pathway Cognito Starter 2 which at $3k is about as much as we can afford. Any one have real time with this or does any one know of any other boards around this price we could look at. With a lot of new LED lamps we'll want a full universe and of course fading in the cues.

 

[Tomo]

I would very much recommend the ETC ColorSource consoles - web page here:

http://www.etcconnect.com/Products/Lighting-Fixtures/ColorSource/Consoles.aspx

 

Your rig sounds like exactly the type of place it's designed for.

 

Full live control and chases on all playbacks, and a cue stack with manual crossfader and "Go" button for timed fades.

It natively understands LED colour mixing, all the way from RGB right up to ETC's 7-colour mixing, and fades between colours the way you expect - both in the cuelist and chases, and "live" between masters.

 

The "standard" edition is 40 or 80 luminaires (devices) of any number of DMX parameters, spread across a full DMX universe (512 outputs).

The "AV" edition is also 40 or 80 luminaires, with two physical DMX universes and 5 network universes (sACN or Art-Net), free (app-less) phone/tablet/PC remote, and an HDMI output for visual effects on a projector, or a local display monitor.

 

I believe the ColorSource 20 AV is under $3k in the US.

Or if you don't need networking/remote control, maybe cut back to the 'standard' edition (about $1700) and spend the rest elsewhere.

[sandall]

Would this totally unbiased piece of advice perhaps fit better in the Commercial section?

[alistermorton]

Might also be worth looking at the FLX series from zero88. First desk of theirs that I've managed to get on with, having come from strand to etc.

[Brian]

Would this totally unbiased piece of advice perhaps fit better in the Commercial section?

 

Not really.

 

It's a (common?) misconception that commercial posts aren't allowed on the Blue Room. Nothing could be further from reality.

 

Where a specific question is asked, for example "I want to buy some 3 inch wide sky-blue pink gaffer tape. Where can I buy it?", then a supplier is quite free to post something along the lines of "We sell it and have 37 rolls on the shelf at £12.76 each". What is not acceptable is a reply from a supplier along the lines of "Basildon Tape Supplies sell it and they are great guys to deal with" when that post does not make it clear that they work for the company concerned.

 

With a sightly more general question we use our judgement using such criteria as...

 

GOOD - the poster has been a member for a while and makes a useful contribution

GOOD - it is clear who the poster works for

GOOD - the poster clearly understand the OP's requirements and their recommendation meets their needs

BAD (and likely to get your account closed) - registering a new account just to answer the question and pretending to be a user

 

 

It's also worth considering what a biased post is...

 

Is someone recommending a "My First Lighting Desk DMX 1000" as the ideal solution, because that's the only desk they have ever used, more or less biased than someone who works for a manufacturer who has a broad range of experience of many desks, both from their employer and the competition?

 

 

Brian

With my admin hat on.

[david.elsbury]

It’s worth noting that on mobile, you can’t see a posters signature or any affiliation like you can on a PC.

[andy_s]

True, but if you click on the poster's name, all the information comes up in seconds.

[BobJ]

This does not seem at all like the Expression III. Vis all faders. We're used to punching in a number and level etc.

 

I would very much recommend the ETC ColorSource consoles - web page here:

http://www.etcconnec...e/Consoles.aspx

 

Your rig sounds like exactly the type of place it's designed for.

 

Full live control and chases on all playbacks, and a cue stack with manual crossfader and "Go" button for timed fades.

It natively understands LED colour mixing, all the way from RGB right up to ETC's 7-colour mixing, and fades between colours the way you expect - both in the cuelist and chases, and "live" between masters.

 

The "standard" edition is 40 or 80 luminaires (devices) of any number of DMX parameters, spread across a full DMX universe (512 outputs).

The "AV" edition is also 40 or 80 luminaires, with two physical DMX universes and 5 network universes (sACN or Art-Net), free (app-less) phone/tablet/PC remote, and an HDMI output for visual effects on a projector, or a local display monitor.

 

I believe the ColorSource 20 AV is under $3k in the US.

Or if you don't need networking/remote control, maybe cut back to the 'standard' edition (about $1700) and spend the rest elsewhere.

[Tomo]

ColorSource has both fader-per-channel and a command line for number @ level, very similar to Express(ion).

 

However on ColorSource the command-line is on the touchscreen, instead of physical keys.

 

Online help for the 'AV' version is here:

http://www.etcconnect.com/webdocs/controls/colorsourceav_onlinehelp/en-us/Default.htm