michael Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Hi does anyone out there use Jands Vista, if anyone does could you tell me what it is like.Is it ok for theatre lighting, Concerts and dance shows??? Many Thanks Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Steve Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 I have limited experience of using a Vista (Vista PC with a playback wing, not a T2/T4) as we've had ours only a few weeks, and have not used one in anger, but.... Yes it can do theatre style playback. You can assign a cue stack, or "clip" to a playback and have "go" button control. You can have pages of playbacks for busking / dance shows / stuff with no cue stack. You can also mix this in with live control of presets (pallets) which makes it quite flexible. The biggest difference is not having to remember fixture numbers and DMX values. If you want all fixtures red, you pick red from RGB sliders, the LEE swatch book, or a HSV pallet and it happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Turner Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Hi Michael, If you would like a demo of Vista, Please feel free to give me a call or drop me a PM and I can arrange a demo for you. Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartacus Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 I've been using the vista for about a year now. It's really good and is a very visual version where you "select" what you want, not "set" it.It's fantastic for creating cues and editing within them and merging and the like. This is made for big rigs, and ours consists mainly of generic dimmers... When we do plug the MAC250s in, it works a treat with many different modes for selecting things. You can select colour via a colour spectrum, lee gel number, pallete, individual RGB or CMY sliders, Gel Frame and DMX address. This is all part of the generic fixture model of the vista where cues are stored as "red" rather then "Universe 1, channel 25 @024" It's really easy to learn the basic aspects but I suggest when you hit a wall, you either hack at it and read the manual (which belive it or not is actually easily read). However, you will find that it is an automatic console that probably isn't good in non-pre-proggrammed situations. (This could be overcome if you create clips of the groups that you want and then use them on the playback sliders) What I do suggest though is that you have two permenent external monitors attached. One for the playback screen and another for the Smart Effects screen. Hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted April 2, 2009 Author Share Posted April 2, 2009 Thanks for the info, one more question but can it be ran from a laptop pc like MagicQ via a usb-DMX cable??? :blink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HobitLight Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Yep. You can buy the software and a dongle that limits you to a certain amount of channels: 128, 256, 512, 1024 and unlimited off the top of my head. You can then either buy a USB DMX cable (around £185 ex VAT, again off the top of my head) or a playback wing such as the M1 which have DMX outputs on the back. However, you're limited by the dongle you have. One thing worth noting that if you are using, for example, a 512 channel dongle and have an M1 playback wing (which has 2 DMX outputs), you can patch to the second universe, so long as the total amount of channels you're using does not exceed 512. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted April 2, 2009 Author Share Posted April 2, 2009 how much is the software and the playback wing??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Turner Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 Hi Michael, PM Sent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanP Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 Had one installed for a year now (supplied by AC) - amazing desk, would reccomend it to anybody who has the money. Especially good for a venue with a high-turnover of performances, short programming/patching time and alot of busking. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve h Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Hi Michael Im just finishing a week run of a show using the vista. Its a rig of generics with 10 scrollers and all in a cue stack so im afraid I cant give anything towards its buskability (although ive heard its very good!) I have found the desk very easy to work with and it has been because of this a very easy week. I'll keep this brief and try and run through some of the features which have impressed me this week. The timeline features allow a simple cross fade to turn into something special very easily with the ability to set the individual time in which each fixture dims very easily The high graphics UI allows quick selection of individual or group of fixtures, the ability to see easily the settings for the clip or what is outputting and also easy editing of cues and all round userbility making all aspects of the desk very quick to use. For instance we programmed the show (106ish cues) in around 2 hours I picked up this desk very quickly as the visual way of working is deffinatly up my street. I did the training at AC a short time after ABTT and hadnt really got my hands on one since then, a quick browse through the manual and also the very hands vista forum meant that I really didnt have any problems setting up Finally, the fact I was able to use a vista for the show has been down to some very generous people, and because of this I ended up using an s3 at the start of the week and an s1 later on in the week. Due to the fact that the vista software will work on anything in the range meant that this wasnt a problem and I just patched in the new desk and started going again. Hope all this helps Steve (PS, many thanks to Bruce Russell, PT and NT for all their help this week :) ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac.calder Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 The vista is an effective desk... I don't like using it personally. I hate having to use a stylus - it is a fairly critical component, as the desk is very crippled without it (yes, there is a track pad, but it takes HOURS to use it), and I am not a fan of it's operating style. Some people love it... It depends on how you think. If you are a graphical person, then being able to see the timing on the parameters may help you a lot. Me, I prefer to edit numbers directly. It is also highly customisable in some ways, but very rigid in others. Those used to classical theatre desks fall into one of two categories. Those who love it, and those who hate it. As far as desks go, it is a highly capable desk... It is just a very different beast to operate, compared to most of the other larger offerings. If I had a choice of consoles, it ranks a low 10 on my preferences list... I know other lighting techs who swear by the console. The only way to decide whether it is right for you is to try it. The rig I used it for was about 230 table spots (Robe 170AT's), a bunch of generics, and up to about 30 movers + 100 odd LED fixtures - so not small shows. It generally handled them well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-techi Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 Hello Michael... I've used the Vista on many occasion. We've got 8 Martin Krypton 575s and the standard 1200w fresnels and the standard washes. It is caperble of taking a lot of lights...From what some people have said we don't actually use the stylus with the screen we just use it as a normal touch screen which actually has worked well so far. The demo idea is really kind because like all desks it can be really complecated at times but overall its a very good desk. The touch screen to select individual lights and colours etc is very good and simple. But programming a scene or chase takes a while (for me) Hope I've helped. Please feel free to email me for more info. Jamie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 Hope I've helped. Please feel free to email me for more info.And if you do, please bear in mind that the author is 14 years old and still at school, and as such is probably not in a position to be giving advice as an experienced console user. This is exactly the sort of thing that Lightnix touched upon in the Google Streetview thread a short time ago, and is one of the reasons that the BR is starting to become a laughing stock in some quarters. I'm not a Vista user, so can't really comment on the desk from a user's perspective, but I strongly suggest you get in touch with Paul Turner and take him up on his offer of a demo - the guys at AC are extremely helpful, and from what I've seen of it the Vista is a very capable desk across a broad range of situations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyJones Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 But programming a scene or chase takes a while (for me) Then you are clearly doing something odd! I use the Vista a fair bit, and it takes seconds to achieve both of these tasks! Edit: Thought I had better actually add some advice about the desk! First of all I have been using the desk on a regular basis for well over a year now. so I would consider myself a very competent operator. The Vista is a very different desk to any other you will use but if you keep with it you will find it to be a very quick and powerful little desk. If you are wanting to use the desk for a lot of rock 'n' roll or busking then you will need to adopt a very different programing technique involving lots of stacked que stacks than you would normally have to. It takes time to master but is do able!. For theater the desk is brilliant, nice and quick to program. You can have a keypad view which when combined with the touch screen can make selecting lights in the traditional theater style nice and quick and easy. Although with a track pad or mouse it can be more laborious! I personally lay my lights out in a tabular form so I can easily select things either by color or by bar. Corporate (I know this bit is OT!) I find it is a brilliant desk for corporate, you can easily run a conference off of your laptop or off the small M1 console. The desk is absolutely brilliant for LEDs and for making some really nice color changing effects, perfect for swishy awards bits! Main things to note are that the desk is alot quicker and easier to use if you get some form of touch screen laptop to run it off (If you are not going for the T2 or T4). Also getting some form of hardware is really useful. Don't be put off by any of them for not having enough faders, every button on the desk pretty much can be transformed into a cue stack/play back. I hope this is of some use, if you need any more informal advice then give me a PM, I highly recommend you go down to AC Lighting and have a play, Neil Vann showed me how to use the desk a while back and the course was very informative, I was well looked after, and learned a whole heap of stuff. HTH Andy Jones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-techi Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 But programming a scene or chase takes a while (for me) Then you are clearly doing something odd! I use the Vista a fair bit, and it takes seconds to achieve both of these tasks! Edit: Thought I had better actually add some advice about the desk... Andy Jones Sorry! I'll wait until I'm older to post in the future! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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