jexjexjex Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Hi All. I'm looking to part with some hard earned rolled-up-used-pictures-of-the-queen and buy a focus remote for my own use around various venues. Other than the basic ELC item, which I'm already familiar with, can anyone point me in the direction of other brands/models and do you have any opinions on them in terms of cost, ease of use, reliability and the like. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Germaine Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 If you're going around to lots of different venues you may need something like the above mentioned product, however I've invested in a windows based mobile phone that is now configured to run Strand/Grand MA/Zero 88 Leap Frog 48/Artnet and when avo get round to releasing titan I hope the Expert will be included in the list. ok so there's the obvious disadvantage when you come into contact with a board not setup to deal with a remote or simply not capable of doing so, however this is a very cheap way to get a huge amount of functionality across lots of different brands. I'm sure a cheap windows pda must be no more than £60 and a wireless router can be bought for about £40 (Obviously this is not an area to scrimp on though), and hay presto instant remote for loads of consoles for about £100. I have left of the ETC software (Net 2??) because it is not free, although I wish ETC would look at the market and deploy some wireless remote software for free for the Congo/EOS/ION. I currently use my remote to do so much more than just bring up channels, I can literally stand on stage and run the shows cue stack/rig check states and if I really wanted to there's not much stopping me writting Macros to reset movers/lamp things on & off etc etc. It may not sound like that's something you definetly need but then again I'm sure there was a time when everyone though that about a mobile phone. it is also worth pointing out that if you buy a cheap artnet node you do then have the ability to plug your DMX lines into this temporarily bypassing the board and use the artnet software. I also believe there is a voice activated product on the market that may run with Entecs device but someone more knowledgeable than me would have to say what it's called and how good it is. Germaine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geek3 Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 what about http://synthe-fx.com/products/luminair. not sure that I would want to run a show with that but it would be nice to use to test with during setup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonkiDonki Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 I used my pocket pc mobile phone as a riggers remote on a MagicQ system the other day, and it worked well. It's a neat solution, saving the need to carry yet another gadget whilst working. And as Germaine pointed out; you can get it work with a lot of other desks too. (I guess there will be some it won't work with) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 On Congo/Congo Jr and Ion you can actually use a standard wireless telephone plugged into the phone jack on the back as a basic remote. How's that for 'free'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonkiDonki Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 On Congo/Congo Jr and Ion you can actually use a standard wireless telephone plugged into the phone jack on the back as a basic remote. How's that for 'free'? Great! Does that mean you can write a macro to order in from Dominos when working a late one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Great! Does that mean you can write a macro to order in from Dominos when working a late one?Afraid not - You'll need a DMX dialer and speech synth for that! There is a jack on the back of the console to plug the base station in, and the console then listens to the DTMF tones from the keypad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Germaine Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I admire the ingenuity of using a wireles phone, but as far as nice full featured user interfaces goes is it presumptuous of me to suggest that it is not possible to get this out of a touch tone phone? There's something very satisfying about being able to quickly edit a cue whilst on stage or stand on a random theatres lx gallery and patch the rig whilst the production LX deals with more important things. I have to admit I am throwing big un-subtle hints in the ETC direction that a PDA version of a remote would be widely appreciated by many of their loyal customers. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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