There’s no denying that advancements in LED lighting have changed the production landscape across the board. What church doesn’t want equipment that consumes less power? And one light that’s able to change color––who could go wrong?
The thing to keep in mind, however, is that LED lighting adds a level of complexity to theatrical control––a challenge for churches that rely heavily on volunteers, especially for large productions such as Easter. “Ten, 15 years ago, a small lighting rig for a church was probably a bunch of ETC Source Four Jr.’s, some par cans, and a manual console for running them. Ten years later, it’s much more high tech because you’re talking about power and data to potentially every light––at least most of the lights––and all of them change color, and in a lot of cases, they move around,” says Luke Delwiche, entertainment market manager at lighting systems manufacturers ETC in Middleton, Wis., and High End Systems in Austin, Texas. This means that lighting control desks need to be increasingly intelligent in order to control this technology.
...when making a purchase, it’s good to keep Christmas and Easter celebrations in mind. The reason? Chances are, you’ll need to rent a few extra fixtures for these larger productions.
Predictably, manufacturers have recognized this. Delwiche highlights that both ETC and High End provide functionality to simplify lighting control for the less experienced user. In the ETC Eos family of consoles, the feature is called Magic Sheets, while in the High End Hog Series users will know it as Plot Views. “But the idea is the same: you can create a graphical layout view of the lighting rig and do a lot of things to make it simple for somebody who is not that technically savvy, but who probably has an iPhone, and is probably familiar with the idea of using a touchscreen to select a light, bring it up, change the color, and record it somewhere.” He notes that the ETC ColorSource console also offers these capabilities.
Stephen Baird-Smith, sales manager at Avolites, a lighting products manufacturer headquartered in London, U.K., notes that consoles now offer considerable programming flexibility. He cites his company’s Titan software platform that is featured in its consoles as an example: “We have the capability to quickly and easily copy fixtures and effects dynamically, and as the groups of fixtures grow, as well,” he explains. This scalability and flexibility saves a lot of time, he argues. “A few years back, once you had your show programmed, if anything changed you had to completely start from scratch and reprogram everything. Now you can continue working with the information that you’ve already programmed and adapt it for different events.”
Thinking ahead
While many churches don’t require much more than modest lighting control capabilities for their weekly services, Delwiche reminds us that when making a purchase, it’s good to keep Christmas and Easter celebrations in mind. The reason? Chances are, you’ll need to rent a few extra fixtures for these larger productions.
“Make sure that you have enough console for when you’re renting extra lights, so that you don’t have to rent a console also, [because then you will have to] learn a different console,” he advises. Large productions are stressful enough; factoring in a learning curve at the last minute presents too many opportunities for disaster ... or at least, an unsatisfactory result.
For large productions that may be outside of the average operator’s comfort zone, Baird-Smith notes that visualization software can come in handy. “It can really help to give you extra programming time to get the show polished, and also [help] to make sure that you get the most out of those extra lights and that extra technology that [you’ve brought in],” he says, adding that Avolites’ Titan software includes a 3D visualizer based on the Capture engine, and that combining the console with a paid-for visualizer, like Capture Nexum, expands these capabilities even further. “The combination of the two products allows them to design their set, their power requirements, and to really plan the show ahead of actually spending the money on renting all of the equipment.” Essentially, it allows operators to do a dry run before having to make a financial investment.
U.K. lighting control solutions developer ChamSys, which manufactures the MagicQ line of consoles and software, also prioritizes 3D visualization. “You are able to work in an environment anytime, offline, away from the venue, and that allows us to do a lot of our pre-programming ahead of time––and to prove the programming,” says Phil Watson, ChamSys’ USA director. (The company’s U.S. headquarters are in Sunrise, Fla.) MagicQ consoles also enable users to configure their own Execute Page––basically, a customized user interface. “That makes it very user-friendly for volunteers and for people that may not have the same level of experience as whoever is in charge of programming the lighting. It allows for very easy playback and control once the programming has been set up.”
But just because the result may be perfect in 3D visualization software doesn’t mean that it will be satisfactory in practice. Once humans get involved in positioning lighting instruments, their placement may be imprecise––a fixture positioned even a fraction of a degree off can have a significant impact and the pre-programming will have to be corrected. This requires lighting designers and operators to offset the patch; basically, to correct the situation. Watson argues that with ChamSys gear, this is easily achieved. “You’re able to merge reality with the perfection that comes from a visualization very quickly,” he explains. “You do this bit of magic––offsetting the patch––with a simple button press. Then all of the other locations that you’ve used in your programming are now fixed. By fixing one, you’ve fixed all of them. Also, you can even use our Plot view created by the 3D visualization to control your lighting rig––all visually––select some instruments, draw a line on the console screen with your finger and all the instruments focus along the line or to a point on the stage. This really speeds up programming, offline or in the venue.”
Easter in mind
While it’s tempting to micro-manage a large Easter event, Delwiche urges tech directors to engage church youth in lighting production. “For one thing, they’re young and they’re not scared of technology,” he says, “and it is an opportunity for that youth group to have something to do, it’s something for them to be excited about, they can teach each other, and it’s a good learning experience in general.” And, for many young people, it’s also really fun to play around with moving lights capable of producing cool effects. “Sometimes you might have to rein them in, but that’s a good problem to have.”
