Memory Lighting Control Systems

[bdkdesigns]

I just used the Mantrix MX last year Luckily that space now runs on an ETC Express 48/96

[midgetgreen11]

A guy I know/work with owns 3 GAM Access Boards, that he uses for parts to make one of them work. I think my school has run our last few shows off of them. Its a great little board.

[gaffer240]

My first memory board was an EDI Troubadore 3, not sure the date but late 1980's or early 1990's. Installed on a nearby military base theatre.

The next board was an ETC ACT 1.

Both nice boards. Unfortunately, the Troubadore, being my first experience in memory boards, opened up an interesting problem. The house light where on the board and the could be recorded into cues. Rapidly learned blind editing.

[mbandgeek]

Teatronics Producer II didn't make it on the list. It is from the early 90's. Its the first lighting board i've ever used.

[waynehoskins]

Originally Posted by mbandgeek

Teatronics Producer II didn't make it on the list. It is from the early 90's. Its the first lighting board i've ever used.

Ah, me too. As limited as the thing is, I still like it. (Correction, though: it's from the mid-to-late '80s)

But it's not so much a memory board as a memory-assisted manual board. No theatre stack or anything, but you did get proportional submasters and a proportional patch .. and 9 pages of patch-effect-submaster memory. When we did Joesph several years ago (essentially community theatre at the high school, who had the Pro2) I did the crossfading-submasters thing to get a semi-theatre-stack, and I ate up six pages of memory, including some effects.

A year later I lit the first show at the high school that actually used a memory board: a rented Microvision FX. It was glorious not having to rely on the board op except to press the correct Go button.

[mbandgeek]

Originally Posted by waynehoskins

Ah, me too. As limited as the thing is, I still like it. (Correction, though: it's from the mid-to-late '80s)

But it's not so much a memory board as a memory-assisted manual board. No theatre stack or anything, but you did get proportional submasters and a proportional patch .. and 9 pages of patch-effect-submaster memory. When we did Joesph several years ago (essentially community theatre at the high school, who had the Pro2) I did the crossfading-submasters thing to get a semi-theatre-stack, and I ate up six pages of memory, including some effects.

A year later I lit the first show at the high school that actually used a memory board: a rented Microvision FX. It was glorious not having to rely on the board op except to press the correct Go button.

oops... Our school was built in 1993 so i was assuming that it was a realitively new board. And i know what they say about people who assume.

[derekleffew]

I'm not, necessarily, anti-Teatronics, but:
1. They are no longer in business [edit: I was wrong! see Home*-*www.teatronics.com ], and
2. More importantly, they made no serious contribution to the advancement of memory control systems, other than to make them affordable and therefore accessible to some users.
3. Other fine companies' offerings, primarily catering to the educational and lower-budget markets, did not make the list as well. No offense to them either, but their lack of importance, as well as the low quantities produced, earns them squarely in the "other" or "also ran" category.

Not to stifle discussion of other consoles, of course. Around 1989 I ran a fully automated multi-media show using a Sunn lighting console, with full MIDI implementation (not MSC) of the lighting.

[derekleffew]

Originally Posted by Van

When was the "Micro-Star" introduced? and does it count? It was an Apple IIe based kit with lighting software, you could wire up to an analogue board, and make it into a CCC < computer controlled console>

1982. Would you like one? Trailing Edge Technologies, Inc.

edit: The Master List now appears at http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/c...s-history.html. Feel free to make any additions, provided they are accurate.

[Teatronics]

The MicroStar which ran on the Apple IIe was first introduced in 1982 and at one time was in 22% of every college and university in the United States. It was later replaced by the ProStar when the more powerful IBM pc came out. There are still a few active MicroStar installations today!

by the Creator and Founder of MicroStar, ProStar and TechStar.

[dramatech]

Our theatre has an EDI "Omega" board, that has cue stacks and all of the features of an expression, only more awkward to operate. It can drive AMX- 192, DMX-512 and a strange combination of analog. The paperwork that I have indicates that it was purchased and installed in 1989. It still works after a few minor repairs, and we have loaned it to a college nearby for their student theatre.