Frog2 Versus Pearl 2004

[Frogman]

In response to Bens comments on the Frog2.............................

 

All comments have been taken on board, but one thing was left out. When a demo of the desk was being given, he was not there, and missed what needed to be said about the desk.

Without even playing with the desk......I find it hard to believe you can say you prefer the Hog2 when all you did was look at the Frog 2?????? :)

[Ben]

in reply to frogmans comments I agree that I cannot fairly judge the desk without having used it and would really like to use it in show conditions to get to know it, I liked the desk in general, it looks good, its very well thought out and seems to be powerful but maybe I'm just one for calling what I see, I like to use the hog but if I'm going to use another desk that feels like a re packaged hog then I have always preferred to stick with the "original"

 

however the frog2 is not a hog, is not claiming to be a hog and I will happily admit that I did not give it a fair chance really, I would love to see it used in anger and have a good go on getting a show up on it, then if I see its advantages over any other desk, be it hog, pearl or any other I would admit it but from what I was told about the desk and what I saw it seems to be very much the same as a hog 2. I will also say that for the money it is and considering hogs are going to get short of spares very quickly it is well worth a look and hope I did not cause any offence in my previous posts, I look forward to trying it out in anger and hope to do so soon.

 

 

just to throw another desk into all this has anyone seen played with or even just heard of the Regia 2048 by SGM it seems to be almost the SGM answer to the Hog 2, however I have only started to learn it tonight and have to train people on it tomorrow morning... I knew I was meant to be doing something...

 

 

in summery I would like to state that while I feel my views on these desks I openly admit that as yet I have not used the frog2 in anger and until I do I can only say what I have seen and that is that it seems very similar in operation to the hog 2.

[gareth]

Not really painting yourself in a particularly good light, are you, Ben?! ;) First of all you give us the benefit of your considered opinions on a desk that it turns out you haven't even used ... and now it looks like you've got to run a training session tomorrow morning on a fairly complex console that you only got around to getting your hands on for the first time tonight! :) (I wonder if the people attending or organising the course would feel they were really getting value-for-money if they knew about this? Perhaps it might have been wiser to not have mentioned it on a widely-read public forum ....)

[paulears]

I can't help but agree with Gareth - I can't quite see how anyone can have an opinion on something they've only read about, or had conversations about. Plenty of times, I've been told item X is great - it wasn't when I got one, or item Z is rubbish, and I love it.

 

As for the last bit - training people on kit you know little about. What are you going to do when they ask questions? and worse still, what will you do if somebody is coming on the course because they've already got one, and can't work it! VERY dangerous and when it happens you will look a total pratt. You don't mention what the training is for, but sounds very risky to me.

 

Last comment - if I advise people on buying a product, I have to have a solid base to deal from - To a very large degree, personal opinion is worthless. I don't like drum & bass in any shape or form, but I've been supplying kit to people who do. I remember being always told by students that so and so piece of equipment is s*it - I patiently explained every time that it isn't s*it, they just didn't like it! (That is fine)

Paul

[Ken Coker]

Pearl.

 

Student proof;small enough to get in my car; comes in a case just the right height for standing on and appears to be a real Babe Magnet, ( I believe the expression is), for Fluid Johnny.

 

I do wish they would put the wood back on the sides though and I wish there was a foolproof method for wrting on the Rollercue

 

Cheers

 

Ken

 

(PS, one of the statements above is laden with irony and is aimed at my students rather than women either inside or outside of the industry - just in case there is a fault with the irony detector this morning!!)

[Guest lightnix]

Having not had the chance to use a Frog2 (or indeed any Frog as yet ;) ), I haven't voted. I've used a Pearl on many occasions and found it more than adequate for a wide variety of productions (although I wouldn't recommend it for theatre work).

 

As a general point, I'm never quite sure how useful "This Kit vs. That Kit" threads really are in the general scheme of things. Once again: it's not the technology that makes for good lighting, it's the people using it. Just because you have a great camera, doesn't mean you're going to take great photos.

[Ben]

As for the last bit - training people on kit you know little about. What are you going to do when they ask questions? and worse still, what will you do if somebody is coming on the course because they've already got one, and can't work it! VERY dangerous and when it happens you will look a total pratt. You don't mention what the training is for, but sounds very risky to me.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

just to clarify I was training on specific simple things with the desk but wanted to be able to show that the desk was capable of much more than we were using it for. the desk was also one we had only just gotten and the person needing the training is using it to demo other kit at a show not to demo the desk but the stand organizer insisted that they use that desk so we had to work out how to best use it for that one application.

 

I agree that I should not have stated my opinions as fact and apologized for that in my last post, I also said that it was MY OPINION, and I think you will find in the definition of those 2 words it does not mean it is the case just what I think, I have also said that I would like to have a chance to use it properly but if I'm being told I cant learn enough about a desk in one night to show people how to use it then how does desk training when you often only have one days training work?

 

I think if you are asking people who have a lot of experience on the desk only to answer what they think then there may have been 2 or 3 people post in this thread, but the question is a personal one of what you like and not whats best if I am told I cant judge because I don't have much experience of the desk then how can most people on here?

 

I'm sorry if this has bbecomea bit of a rant but to tell me I am wrong because I said my opinion when I made a point of stating that it was only my opinion is one thing but then ask how many people that have posted have used the desk? much less used it in show conditions. I think if you are telling me I'm wrong to post my opinion then most people on most threads asking opinions or whats better are guilty of the same thing. however I for one like the fact that you can find out what people think here and not just a list of facts about things, thats what the manufacturers have websites for.

 

 

PS

"(I wonder if the people attending or organising the course would feel they were really getting value-for-money if they knew about this? Perhaps it might have been wiser to not have mentioned it on a widely-read public forum ....)"

 

it was a free training for a specific person and it was not that I hadnt gotten round to doing it before I was only told at 17.30 yesterday that we had the desk in and that somone needed to know about it today, it was an "emergency" rush job that we only found out about then and I was not meant to be learining it myself till today but did it in my own time last nigth so that I could try to get somone else out of trouble.

[zonino]

hi,

 

the students union ents company that I work for got sent a frog2 for a free trial, and our standard lighting desk is the avolites azure, the next one down from a pearl

 

the desk seemed quite nice apart from the fact we couldn't actually see any of the output because we couldn't get any DMX output from it atall! nada, zilch, I'm going to assume that this is working now though ;-)

 

from a personal point of view I would prefer a pearl, simply because I have more experience with the avolites boards

[Diane]

hmm... we have an ADB Phonix 5.... does Pearl work as a "guy magnet" too? :o

 

 

Pearl.

 

Student proof;small enough to get in my car; comes in a case just the right height for standing on and appears to be a real Babe Magnet, ( I believe the expression is), for Fluid Johnny.

 

I do wish they would put the wood back on the sides though and I wish there was a foolproof method for wrting on the Rollercue

 

Cheers

 

Ken

 

(PS, one of the statements above is laden with irony and is aimed at my students rather than women either inside or outside of the industry - just in case there is a fault with the irony detector this morning!!)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

;) :P

[gareth]

hmm... we have an ADB Phonix 5.... does Pearl work as a "guy magnet" too?  :P

Oh, come on - it's Belgian, for crying out loud! :o ;)

[Diane]

Ooh.. don't knock the Belgians... Poirot... chocolate....Kronenbourg, Django Reinhardt (uh-oh - showing my age....) Di

hmm... we have an ADB Phonix 5.... does Pearl work as a "guy magnet" too?  :P

Oh, come on - it's Belgian, for crying out loud! :o ;)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Potassium Neuf]

Belgium ... we seem to be straying a bit ;) here don't you think ?

 

BTW ... Kronebourg is French :P

[peter]

A case of Belgium, Nul Points?

[lxkev]

Purchased a Frog 2 about two months ago for work, unfortunately I took two months off work and the desk got shoved into the back of the cupboard. However in the short time I have had using it, it comes apparent that there are features within this desk which are far better then the pearl, such as the individual fade and wait times on fixtures attributes. ONLY thing the pearl is better at (this is very hard for me to say I recently got awarded for “Greatest hater of the Pearl†is that the pearl is easier to program. To use a frog 2, you need to know the syntax; you can’t sit in front of it and work it out without the manual, unless you had experience in using a Hog 2.

 

However the Pearl and Frog comes no where close to the amazing power of emagic logic and a midi converter ;)

 

In regards to Ken comments

 

• Frog 2 will fit into the back of your car. Bit risky putting any desk in Ken's car though :P

• Frog 2 is student proof – You think Jezz is bad, should meet my AVCE Level LX design students.

• Case is same size as the Pearls

• It has a touch screen! And can have an additional 2 external touch screen – has to be a babe magnet.

[GBS]

hi,

 

the students union ents company that I work for got sent a frog2 for a free trial, and our standard lighting desk is the avolites azure, the next one down from a pearl

 

the desk seemed quite nice apart from the fact we couldn't actually see any of the output because we couldn't get any DMX output from it atall! nada, zilch, I'm going to assume that this is working now though ;-)

 

from a personal point of view I would prefer a pearl, simply because I have more experience with the avolites boards

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Hi,

 

It may have been fairer to also state that the desk you had, had been lent to you to assess while still in its early stage of development and running version 0.34 of an Alpha software.

 

Now running v 1.07 and yes it does output DMX now :-)

 

If you would to have a play with one now the software is released please let me know