Busking with a GrandMA Ultralite or Hog iPC

[mark_s]

I am lighting a show in a few weeks (a live event), and as my choice of desk isn't available (an Ion), I have to choose between one of those two. I hope to plot most (if not all) of the ligting beforehand, but I can foresee, due to lack of time, that at some point I will end up busking. The rig consists of some conventionals, plus a load of LED kit (Colour Force 12s, BB4 Washlights and MAC 101s). I used a Pearl 2000 for the last show, but am very reluctant to use one again as it decided to crash at the beginning of the first act, and also as the theatre stack is pretty terrible and didn't feel at all intuitive to use. I'm equally (un)familiar with both the GrandMA and the Hog 3, having never used either of them in anger before. My background is with Strand desks, so I'm very much at home with a desk with a proper command line (something else that I miss with the Pearl).

 

So which would your choice be, and why? Important points are ease of learning, ability to easily grab and control things live, and the ability to program in a sensible and intuitive manner. I'm not too worried about being unfamiliar with either desk as I have a whole day a few days before the show to play.

 

The other option is a Pearl Expert - but unless Titan has improved greatly on the theatre stack, I'm not convinced.

 

Suggestions or comments anyone? :)

[Davethsparky]

I used to use a pearl 2000 and experienced the crashing problem, a quick call to avolites had it fixed in no time and it did a good few years service problem free before it got retired in favour of the tiger touch.

I would say the theater stack is many times better now than it was before, and if you go for the expert then try and get a touch wing to go with it as I think you'll find it very helpful.

My choice in your situation would be the expert, but then I find the avolites way to be intuitive to my way of working. It certainly allows very quick and easy access to everything if you are working live.

[JDLX]

The latest version of theatre stack on Titan is actually very good. I come from a theatre desk background too and wouldn't fancy walking into a show using an MA or Hog if I hadn't used them before or had training, especially coming from a Strand/ETC desk background. The Pearl Expert is quite intuitive and wouldn't require much prior knowledge to program IMO.

[grandMA_the_2nd]

Grandma rocks with LED kit especially when buskin if you patch virtual dimmers....you can copy and clone from all those different led fixtures...

[rossmck]

The latest version of theatre stack on Titan is actually very good. I come from a theatre desk background too and wouldn't fancy walking into a show using an MA or Hog if I hadn't used them before or had training, especially coming from a Strand/ETC desk background. The Pearl Expert is quite intuitive and wouldn't require much prior knowledge to program IMO.

 

 

I'm similarly surprised / pleased by Avo's latest Titan software - bought a Titan Mobile recently after using the Tiger Touch a few times. Theatre stack seems pretty good coming from a strand background the only thing I really miss is a decent Auto-Move Dark implementation (yes, it's cheating, but it helps when plotting with limited time)

 

[mac.calder]

My preference would be the MA - It has some really great busking features - Group masters, preset fade and speed masters are the three I will focus on.

 

Group masters - awesome because you can divide up your rig so you can bump sections either on or off using the flash buttons (as well as drop overall intensity of a group)

Preset fade - this allows you to set a fade time to transition between presets - great for changing pan-tilt positions at different rates or doing slow CMY/RGB colour changes

Speed Masters - if you alter your effects to reference these special faders, you can adjust a whole series of effect speeds with a single fader - which also has tap tempo and double/half buttons.

 

There are also the playback buttons, which gives you 20 more locations to store lists etc which don't require faders. If you can wrangle the light, you also get motorised faders.

 

I do corporate, so bust fairly frequently. I have busked on the pretty much every hog model that can handle a moving head, after using the MA I would never spec anything else if I had a choice. I have also busked on a Perl, and whilst it is quite good, I think an MA is still better once you know how to use it.

[EmmaThompson]

Titan has come on a huge way since the Pearl 2000, the cue stack system has completely replaced theatre stack.

 

LEDs are a lot easier to handle on Titan than on the old Pearls as well, and the attribute control is a lot more intuitive. Quick palette programming will also mean you have lots of pre-programming time but also a great basis for busking too. I would say it's a lot quicker to get your head around Titan having never used it before than an Ultralite or Hog.

 

If you have any questions on Titan feel free to give me a shout :)

[niclights]

You would also get a lot more physical control surface with an Expert compared to an Ultralite or iPC. For me this is crucial in busking although people have different definitions of what busking is. However, regarding Mac's comment I would love to see the MA group master and speed master functions in Titan. You can partly achieve group masters with shapes but it's not quite the same. Been pestering for these for a long time!

 

As for stability I wouldn't worry. The 2000's are very old now and Titan has completely different hardware. Get a demo and see if the cue list functions work for you.

[Smiffy]

I would go with the Ultralite looking at the two choices you offer initially, however to be honest, I would hate to have to busk on either.

 

Busking is all about having the maximum availability of groups / palettes / playbacks / timing options to you at any one time, and I find either of those options to be a bit on the limiting side. I'm not saying it's not possible, but for me, the bigger consoles are built for a reason. If I was forced down that route on the shows I do. The I would certainly be trying to pull in some favours for something a bit bigger!

 

Nevertheless, the opinions expressed above re the Grand MA and the newer Avo stuff are both valid. For my money, the ultimate busking desk will always be anything that Avo build, and I was blown away by the Titan softwares ability to be a 'big' desk, in a Pearl, with all the bells and whistles of Avo's biggest competitors, and yet still, at heart, be an Avo Desk and with all of the Busk Friendly functionality that you would expect.

 

Not to upset the Grand MA chaps, I have to say, that the MA's are also very buskable consoles. However I personally do prefer to do my busked shows on Avo's, and my more structured, complex stuff on an MA. That being said, all that Tim states makes perfect sense. (as you would expect from a man with the sorts of MA gigs under his belt that he has! :) )

 

For the IPC, I would have to say no. There is no live timing functionality, and a limiting interactivity for want of a better way of putting. It doesn't suit my style and taste when it comes to busking a gig. They are not bad consoles per-se, just not for me,

 

Just my 2¢

 

Cheers

 

Smiffy

[mark_s]

The clear choice does seem to be the Pearl Expert, if Titan really is that much of a step forward (and from reading the manual, it certainly does seem that it is). I was very sceptical about trying to busk a desk with very little control surface - I'd be perfectly happy with it if I was intimately familiar with the desk and knew exactly where to go to do things without thinking, but with both the MA and the Hog that's not the case. Having the ability to easily grab something is a major advantage.

 

The only real disadvantage is the lack of a Titan offline editor, and not being able to do any work at home/without the desk... :unsure:

[niclights]

The only real disadvantage is the lack of a Titan offline editor, and not being able to do any work at home/without the desk... :unsure:

It's all but ready as far as I know. I'm not sure what the schedule is but I would certainly expect it within a month or so. Even if it's not finished in time for a project then it is possible to use the existing console software with a dongle.

[Nick512]

Just My 2p's Worth, But I have pretty much had to busk on every console at some point. I think everyone will ultimately find a console which they really like and feel comfortable on, but for simple busking you really should be able to walk up to any of them and get a great looking show out of them quickly.. you just have to approach each one differently.. Its totally worth spending a bit of time on each console so when you walk into that festival late which will happen you stand half a change of busking on whatever they have.!

 

Back on subject Avo's are world renowned for easy busking and are really well laid out for that. you really do need everything right in front of you and thats what they do.. When you start heading into lots of lights they start to lose the advantage but from what I understand of your needs it is the best of the 3 you named. You don't want to be scrolling through fader banks and screen pages.

 

Personally id go for an MA2 light I have recently got to know it quite well and its really changed my opinion as I always found the GMA hard work, They have really worked hard to make this version much more accessible.