Whether you are programming the lighting to playback looks at the touch of a button, running complex, multi-cued presentations, or running the lighting manually with faders, the choice of console can help or hinder your plans. Lighting consoles are the brains of the lighting system, and whether you are a lighting designer who will operate their own lighting design for services and programs or you're the person tasked with programming and operating the lighting for a guest designer, you will be spending a lot of time with this tool. You will want to take a good look at the features and functions of various consoles, know how those functions might benefit or perhaps slow down cueing, and then decide what console will work for your needs and style of lighting control.
In this story, we look at two recent console installations with information on how these console choices were made to address specific lighting needs. We also spoke with several manufacturers about the considerations they suggest that end-users take into account when choosing a new lighting console for their church.
[ CHURCH TECH'S VIEWPOINT ]
Eagle Brook Church based in Lino Lakes, Minn., in the twin cities area has five campuses. They use Jands Vista T2 consoles in four of the churches, and three months ago upgraded the fifth location to a Jands Vista L5 console. The upgrade to the L5 was with an eye toward their future needs, which includes adding a media server that will be controlled from the lighting console. Lighting Designer Nate Nohling has been working on the Vista platform for more than five years—and it was at his suggestion that the church upgraded from a different platform when he started working at Eagle Brook.
Why the Vista platform? “I find that programming with the timeline in Vista is very effective,” comments Nohling. “I think that it feels very intuitive, especially the way our services run with all of our cues—we need to be able to edit those quickly. The volunteers who operate the lighting have the ability to modulate all the things that are on the timeline, to be able to fit into our services and make quick changes on the fly is awesome.”
Nohling is on the church staff and is the overall lighting designer for all five campuses. He has volunteers or contract people operating the lighting at the other campuses. They run four services on Saturday and Sunday and two student programs on Wednesday evenings. His rig includes a range of Martin Professional moving lights, including Mac 700s, Mac 250 Wash units, Mac 250 Entours, as well as Chroma-Q Color Force 12 LED luminaires and an MDG hazer.
When it comes to helping with his creative execution, Nohling likes the way the Jands Vista console works with its timeline programming method. “The Vista allows you to look at lighting in a whole different visual way,” says Nohling. “It's not just looking at numbers—channel 12 at full. You're picking your colors; you're seeing your gobos. You are looking at the stage, not the console. It's the exact way you are looking at the stage, but you are also looking at it from the console. It just allows you to come up with an idea in your mind, be able to program it, and then to be able to see it in the room. It's being able to work with your system live, rather than just looking at a set of numbers.”
Nohling also likes the 21-inch Wacom HD tablet that works with the Vista console. “It lets me layout my system for fast programming, editing, and playback,” he says. “It allows you to have so much more space to work with; there's much more information right there, using the color picker. It's really nice to rearrange all those windows easily.”
THE VIEW FROM MULTIPLE ANGLES
As for the upgrade to the Vista L5, the church looked at its future aspirations. “I think that as a church, part of our mission statement is to be relevant and we needed something that was expandable,” comments Nohling. “We are looking towards media-driven sets and media servers, so the L5 was the perfect option for that. The expandability that allows us to take our Art-Net universes up to 16 was a great feature, plus the console is great for programming multiple different fixtures and working with media servers. Also, the upgraded processor speed, which is very noticeable, allows me to work very fast.”
Nohling continues, “We were looking for a console that was, first of all, cost-effective to get that expandability. We didn't want to tie ourselves down. Looking towards the future we wanted something that could be easily expandable with our lighting rig as we grow. We are looking to add projected scenery and more projection surfaces; working with multiple projectors, [High End Systems] DL.3s, or media servers. For anything like that, we needed a console that could be easily adaptable to those changes.”
When asked to sum up the churches' choice of lighting control, Nohling concludes, “The Vista platform was the answer to our complete needs assessment. We really looked at what we were doing and what we wanted to do in the future.”
Understanding the experience you are hoping to offer your congregation is essential to understanding the features and functions you will be requiring in a lighting console. It is also important to know what you will want to control with the console. The New Venture Christian Fellowship in San Diego recently retrofitted its church lighting system, upgrading to an ETC Gio control console. The church wanted to create an “immersive worship experience” with the new system, including lighting effects and video. They worked with Lighting Designer Jayna Williams, LC, with CCI Solutions of Olympia, Wash., the lighting engineer and integrator. “Our design for New Venture Christian Fellowship uses over 130 ETC Selador Desire LED lighting instruments for house, accent, and stage lighting,” says Williams. “Which meant the project required a console that could handle four or more universes of DMX. That narrowed the field of consoles to choose from dramatically. What clinched the decision to use the Gio was the ability to maximize creative opportunities leveraging the Selador x7 Color System integration between the Gio console and Desire LED fixtures.” New Venture now has a system that works as just that—a system, which allows users to get the most out of equipment selected.
MANUFACTURERS WEIGH IN
For manufacturers' suggestions on some key considerations when choosing a console, CPM spoke with Bobby Harrell, controls product manager, Philips Strand Lighting, Dallas; Joe Bokelman, architectural market manager, Electronic Theatre Controls, Middleton, Wis.; Fred Mikeska,vice president of U.S. sales and marketing,A.C. Lighting Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canda; Mark Kraft, design engineer, Lehigh Electric Products, Allentown, Pa.; and Kevin Loretto, director of sales, Creative Stage Lighting, North Creek, N.Y., as well as Eagle Brook Church's Nohling.
CPM: In a nutshell, what considerations should house of worship (HOW) staff keep front of mind when looking to purchase a new lighting console?
Nohling: I would say that, especially with churches, we have to pick a console that volunteers can easily operate on the weekends. We are extremely volunteer-driven, as are many churches, so having a console that not only is able to be programmed down to miniscule seconds and frames on timecode, but you also have to be able to have volunteers run it seamlessly. That they can fire off cues on the weekend; make it work like there’s a professional running it, that is just an awesome thing in itself. We don’t have to spend 30 hours a week with volunteers on training. They are able to fire off cues and feel right at home. Most of our volunteers could probably program a weekend service with the Vista. It’s very easy to pick up.
Mikeska: It’s important to consider a console or console range that offers the ability to meet your current needs as well as your future needs. DMX channel requirements increase quickly when you factor in LEDs and media server control. Invest in a control console platform that allows for growth as your church grows. Likewise it’s important to choose a console from a manufacturer and dealer that understands your requirements and your vision and can provide training and technical support. With the combination of staff positions and active volunteer teams it is often difficult to gather the entire lighting team in one location for training. Does the console provide online training sessions, videos, or tutorials in conjunction with hands-on training sessions?
Harrell: You want a console that is simple to use. With Palette OS’s Graphical User Interface that allows the user to click and drag to select fixtures and [roll] the mouse wheel to increase intensity—it’s very easy to use. I would suggest that they consider a console with an advanced feature set that’s simple to use; [that’s] easy to be triggered by simple stations and iOS devices.
Bokelman: HOW technicians need to know what they’re going to control, asking first, ‘What’s in our lighting plan?’ If you understand what’s in your lighting plan and you can come [up] with a list and ask how well the console matches up with that, the next question is about the future. Is the console system engineered to able to control lights that haven’t even been thought up yet? Then, consider how well a console controls things other than dimmers—how useful will it be for controlling devices other than regular lights? Will they have lights in their rig other than incandescents? They should know who their console operators will be and what prior—if any—knowledge the operators have in console brands. They should consider what types of events and productions the console would be used for: only the illumination of services, lectures, or seasonal productions? Will any video or broadcast be done? And of course, first or last: what does their budget permit?
Bokelman: Houses of worship should always allow for the potential to upgrade a console and lighting system—because the mission of most congregations is to thrive, and with that the worship facility is likely to expand, as well. It makes sense then for houses of worship to avail themselves of console families that run the same software. A worship facility might begin, in [its] fledgling production days, using a great foundational console, and then move over time and with the increase in their lighting rig complexity to a more sophisticated console—always building on their knowledge and convenience of the same software.
Kraft: They should look for consoles that have support for color LEDs with gel and color picker capability, and especially virtual intensity control support RGB fixtures that do not include a built-in intensity control. Also, know the end-user. Make sure that the console that will be installed provides the best mix of capability and ease of use for the typical end-user at the venue.
Loretto: Ease of use, simplicity of the user interface, ability to grow and handle future technology like LEDs, LED walls, video, and media servers, etc., [are important considerations].
IN CONCLUSION
There are consoles available that will fit the way you work and the equipment you want to control. You need to take the time to do some research, speak with other churches that do similar work to your facility, and speak with them about what they've found with their lighting control. What do they like about their lighting console and lighting system? What would they change about their control if they could make a change? Speak with different manufacturers and theatrical dealers. They can set up demonstrations so you can compare products; you could also rent a console to really take it for a test drive in your church and see if it functions for the way that you work. Also, don't forget to have the volunteers take a try and see how easy, or difficult, handing off a particular console might be in terms of training time. In the end, the [time and] work [invested in] researching will lead to a stronger choice of console.
