LDI Classes?

[sarahfromstaller]

I'm looking at going down to LDI this year and taking some classes, particularly to learn some of the consoles. I would like to learn more advanced programming and this seems like one of the few means I have found to do so. (I can do the whole express, expression, insight thing and I have experience programming moving lights on those boards). Can anyone suggest which consoles would be most useful to learn (i.e. might actually lead to work?) Has anyone taken any of these courses, and are they really in depth enough that one can then go out and start programming on those consoles? There are courses in: grandMA, Strand 500 Series, ETC Congo, SGM Regia, Virtuoso DX, and Martin Maxxyz. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[wolf825]

Well IMO it depends on what you wanting to know this stuff is for and where you want to apply it to later on hopefully. If you don't have a specific console in your area you will be using a lot of, you should probably familiarize yourself on some of the "standard consoles" for moving lights as that will give you a good basis to learn the rest from. I would suggest the GrandMA as a must-learn..same for a WholeHog 3. Those are two main industry standard consoles that you will run into most frequently. The MA is a very cool console and very common in professional circles and very intuitive and easy to pick up on. The MAXXYZ from Martin is also a fun one but not as common and IMO if you learn the GrandMA or a Hog3, you can pick up the XYZ easy later on on your own.

Now the Strand 500 is a VERY common console out there in daily use--could not hurt to learn a bit on it as well too. While not as "friendly" and fun and intuitive a console as a MA or Hog--its a lot more common to be seen at colleges high schools and some smaller convention halls, mostly because of the price tag.. If you feel you will be doing a lot of work in Schools and for small theaters or corporate work--the Strand 500 would be a good choice to know...as its unlikely you will run into a MA in a school setting or low-budget setting. If you are going to be doing a lot of professional work in outside areas, professional shows and arena's--the MA and Hog 3 are good to know boards.

JMO...
-w

[wolf825]

Oh..and FWIW--I did not mention the Virtuoso or the Regia or the Congo for the following reasons: Virtuoso's--very rare to run into mainstream unless you are a VL operator or you see it on a gig and its owned by the programmer/op.. The Regia--if you are in europe or like small club work in EU--more common to see those there.....but the MA is common in the USA now too--but the Regia is still not very common. The Congo--ETC has never made a good road-worthy user-friendly console yet for movinglights and even tho its "pretty" to look at, its brand new and its unknown how it will go over. I would wait another year or so to learn that and see how the industry responds to it and see if it finds a niche market of user groups or if it goes the way of the Irideons (older ETC folks should remember those ETC units that never took off )...

Again..JMO..
-w

[cupcake]

dudes (or dudets), my opinion on this is simple and to the point, what board will you be using? there is no point in learning on a GrandMA if you are going to be using someing uber simple.

[sarahfromstaller]

Not necessarily... I come across plenty of job ads on a regular basis looking for programmers who are already trained on these consoles. Yeah, the theatres I currently work in have expresses and insights, but if I want to move up, I think I shouldn't expect that theatres will take the time out to train me in their high-end consoles.

[cupcake]

very true, but when you get up there with the grandMA, although i have never even seen one, it's a lot of work to beable to master it, i don't know if i would want to put that much work into it, if there is a chance it will never be used.

[propmonkey]

strand is pretty easy to learn. id learn a mroe advanced one like a hog, or grandma

[avkid]

It's never a bad idea to get a basic understanding of any consol/method/piece of equipment you think there is a decent chance you may encounter in the near future.