Some factors to include in beginning your quest include (in no particular order):

1) Price
2) Current dimming (theatrical and architectural)
3) Future dimming
4) Current use of the facility
5) Possible expanded use of the facility
6) Who operates the console on a regular basis
7) Who might need to operate the console
8) Learning curve of the console

Individual situations may require a host of other considerations. However, the important thing is to take a good look at your needs before you talk to anyone about specific products. Once you've analyzed your situation then start to consider the different options currently out there. Remember that lighting consoles are now very computer-oriented. So, like your computer, new models with are coming out regularly and the state of the art is a constantly moving target. Again this is why research is important and why it is valuable to find a dealer, contractor or consultant who stays up to date on the latest products.

This is the first of two articles about picking the perfect console, so let's begin by looking at the different features and options that you are likely to encounter when selecting a basic console. These options and features are shared across the industry and most innovations have their origins either in traditional theatre or the concert/special events end of the industry.

DMX Compatibility

DMX 512 is an entertainment industry standard electronic "language" that allows products from different manufacturers to send and receive control commands. Therefore it is becoming less and less of an option and more of a standard or required feature. Not everyone lives by that standard and there are still some other popular protocols out there: multiplex being the chief one and AMX 192 is another. But far and away, DMX 512 is the most used protocol for dimming and control. Another thing to consider is the fact that the moving light and special effects manufacturers also utilize DMX as the language of choice. This means you can trigger a smoke machine or strobe light from a DMX controller. What if you already have a non-DMX-compatible dimming system? Consider your future plans. Are you going to purchase new dimming in the next five years? If so don't hesitate to purchase a DMX console. Yes, you will need some kind of protocol converter to use with your current lighting system. However, long term it's worth it. And when the time comes for new dimming, you're ready.

Two Scene Presets

Basic control consoles are often available with two banks of control faders in groups anywhere from four to 48 (or more) and some way to crossfade between a "x" (or an "a") and a "y" (or a "b") bank. This is the very basic feature. The board can be set to use a default patch to connect to the dimmers in a one-to-one fashion and each fader then represents one dimmer. Setting levels with the individual faders creates "looks" or scenes. During a show you can always have a scene up and another scene ready. When you want to switch, you cross fade from the current scene to the "ready" or preview scene.

A number of these boards also allow you to operate the board as a single-scene board, thus doubling the number of faders. This makes an eight-channel two-scene board into a 16-channel single-scene board. When the desk is used like this, you can't crossfade between scenes. But you can manually crossfade the faders. This is especially helpful when setting up looks or cues and when creating submasters (see the next section.) For many churches this may be all you would need to run a simple service or speaker-style event in the church.

In addition many boards offer "bump" buttons and simple programmable chase sequences. Bump buttons simply allow you to flash the lights on a given channel. By pushing one button, they immediately take the light to full. A "chase" allows you to run several different lights up in a repeating sequence or chase -- useful in creating special effects.

Submasters

A submaster takes several different faders at user-determined levels and puts them all on one fader. In other words you program a scene that may use all your faders, yet the submaster allows you to just use one fader to control that entire scene. Many consoles can then run the show in submaster mode and allow you to crossfade in a two-scene preset fashion but use less faders when setting the cues. On many consoles it is also possible to combine the submaster mode with the two-scene, preset show-running method. On a console like this there will be a separate row of faders dedicated to submaster use.

Memory

The next thing you might look for in a console is different ways to store information for your show or event. This could be information about how dimmers are patched to the console or the way that the lights look for a given cue. A typical console in this line is configurable and you start to have options both in the way you program a show and the way you might run a show or event. "Softpatching" to the dimmers for instance is an important thing to store. Rather than default patching in a one-to-one patch (dimmer one is patched to channel or fader one) you may want or need to patch the dimmers to different control faders. For example, you could patch dimmer one, two and three to channel or fader one. The reference to patching comes from a time not so long ago when many analog dimmers used patch panels similar to old style telephone operator patch panels to assign dimmers to circuits and/or channels. This was later improved upon by consoles that used a pin matrix (in fact some still do) to allow multiple dimmers to be patched to a single channel. Softpatching means doing it digitally in the console. You go through and tell each fader which dimmer or dimmers it will control. This allows the user to configure the console in the way that makes most efficient use of available equipment. Certain consoles allow more than one patch to be stored into memory. Others use disk drives to store patches. In both cases, it means multiple users can have individual patches for the same dimming system. The whole softpatch idea becomes even more important when you use moving lights, color scrollers or other DMX-compatible devices because you need to patch the DMX information about the device to control channels in the board.

The other thing memory allows you to do is set up a show or event so that it runs from one cue to the next cue in a tracking fashion. Tracking consoles use a list of cues (or scenes) that are programmed into the console and allow the operator to move from one cue to the next by merely hitting a "go" button. In a very real sense you are using the console as a computer running through a set of pre-programmed instructions simply by hitting the enter key. This type of console has software just like a computer, most use a VGA (or higher) monitor, a keyboard, many times a mouse, a storage drive of some type and a way to print the information that it has stored. It is so much like a computer in fact that many of these consoles allow you to edit cue list or cue attributes on a PC in a word processing program then put them back in the console via a floppy drive. The down side of it being like a computer is the learning curve of the software programs, the system errors or crashes, and the need for an ever increasing amount of available storage capacity. In spite of these few hurdles tracking consoles are capable of extraordinary show control.

To take full advantage of a console like this you need to have programming time--time when a director, designer and possibly a board operator sit down and create specific cues or looks and store them in the computer. There will be discussions about fade times (the time it takes to get from one cue to the next) how the cues are stacked and what attributes a cue might have. Cues can be written on many of these consoles in a multi-part fashion so that several things happen within the context of one cue. Cues can trigger a "macro" that is a set of recorded instructions that may control numerous parts of the console. The possibilities for show set up become very precise.

In the next article we will examine some of the consoles in all three categories, two-scene pre set, simple memory and advanced featured tracking consoles to help you find the right console for your church.

Todd Seage lives in Murfreesboro, TN and works for StageLight in Houston Texas. He is a freelance lighting and set designer in the Nashville/Murfreesboro area.