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Lighting Review: Mega Systems Enlighten DMX Lighting Control Software and Control Wing
Clear your mind of preconceived notions and you see Enlighten's software design may be superior for the worship market.
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The software uses easy-to-understand graphical virtual “buttons” that represent lighting fixtures and cues. Instead of naming lights according to channels, each light (or group of lights) can be named according to its function. For instance, instead of “Channel 1,” you could name the light “Podium Front.” Instead of “Channels 23, 24, and 25,” you can name that group of lights “Choir Blue Wash.” These buttons can be moved around on the screen in any arrangement or sequence.
Now that automated lighting fixtures are becoming common in houses of worship, many churches are finding it necessary to update their lighting controllers to fully take advantage of this technology. During my recent visit to LDI 2010, I encountered many new lighting control products that are truly on the cutting edge of technology. Unfortunately, many of these products are so technically sophisticated it seems that a computer geek is required to program them. This is not ideal for houses of worship that depend on people who are not MIT graduates to program and run their lighting boards.
Mega Systems has come up with a novel idea. Why not design a sophisticated automated lighting controller that is designed to be extremely simple to program and run? Mega System's console designers have met this challenge with the Enlighten DMX Lighting Control Software and Control Wing.
Originally, Mega Systems developed its excellent control software designed as a standalone product for a personal computer running Windows. The Enlighten DMX Lighting software was relatively inexpensive, especially when compared to conventional lighting control boards. It had a simple virtual button-based user interface based on tried and true "drop and drag" features. Although the software was successful in its own right, users wanted a more "hands-on" interface with real control dials and buttons. To answer its customers needs, Mega Systems recently introduced a hardware control wing that is specifically designed for their Enlighten software.
Mega Systems was kind enough to send the Enlighten DMX Lighting Control Software and their new Control Wing to our lighting lab at California State University, Long Beach. We used the Enlighten for several weeks on student projects incorporating automated lights, as well as on a department production using conventional lighting fixtures. As usual, I challenged my students to explore the software and see if they could break it. I am happy to report that they failed. Not once did they crash the software (unlike many other Windows-based lighting controllers).
An Up-close Look
As the control wing is the primary user interface to the software, the Enlighten software is what really controls the lighting. We appreciated the layout of the software and found it quite intuitive to the programmer's wishes. The initial patch of the automated lighting fixtures was easy and straightforward. When you choose a moving light from the Enlighten's extensive fixture library, the software automatically patches all the attributes for that particular fixture. All you have to do is make sure that the DMX address on the fixture is correct and you are ready to go.
The software uses easy-to-understand graphical virtual "buttons" that represent lighting fixtures and cues. Instead of naming lights according to channels, each light (or group of lights) can be named according to its function. For instance, instead of "Channel 1," you could name the light "Podium Front." Instead of "Channels 23, 24, and 25," you can name that group of lights "Choir Blue Wash." These buttons can be moved around on the screen in any arrangement or sequence. This allows the user to create standardized lighting looks for certain parts of the worship program that can be rearranged for different services. It also makes much more sense than having to completely re-program the lighting sequences just because the worship songs may be in a different order from week to week. You can see how intuitive this would be for someone programming a service.
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David Martin Jacques is a professional lighting designer and consultant. He has designed hundreds of productions in the United States and throughout the world. David also consults on new worship facilities and renovations. He serves as Head of Stage Design for California State University Long Beach. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Quick-links
Enlighten DMX Lighting Control Software and Control Wing
www.megasystemsinc.com | 866-460-MEGA
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