I am starting this hread because there were a bunch of things in the short hijack of the Jands Event 416 thread that got me thinking, and instead of further hijacking the thread, this seemed like a better idea.
In any event, if you didn't read that thread, there was a little debate on what types of equipment is best suited to the educational market, industry standard or not (to be blunt).
I come from a background where I learned on all industry standard equipment for the most part. My first lighting console in middle school (I don't remember the brand) was an analog 2 scene preset that connected to the wall with a cable as thick as my arm. After that we upgraded to an ETC Acclaim 2-scene and from then till college I was on ETC gear. I have to admit, that in terms of ease of use and teach/learnability it is a good way to go. But this is not to say that some other consoles/equipment wouldn't be the same.
Once I got to college I met people that came from all different backgrounds, from people who went to school practically across the street from High End Systems so they had all HES gear, to people who never really touched a memory console. At college we had an Obsession II in the proscenium space, and a Strand 300 in the theatre in the round. The thought was that they could teach students both industry standard consoles. This actually is what turned me into a "Strand Guy." It was quite impressive the number of ways we found to break/crash/piss-off the Obsession, plus for me, the Strand OS just seemed more intuitive/user friendly (EOS might convert me back...). We also had 6 Martin moving heads, and after I graduated thy bought a bunch of VL1000s. This is in addition to the 500+ conventional unit inventory which includes units older than myself and modern units. We had plenty of effects devices too, from scrollers to atmospherics to fiber optics.
Now, chances are, it would have been quite beneficial to me as a student focusing in lighting tech to have exposure to other gear, because in reality there aren't a lot of non-commercial theatres that are outfitted like my college was. I worked on a cruise ship for a while where they have lots of high tech gear, but it isn't always high end equipment. I had never worked with Clay Paky fixtures before, they aren't considered top quality as it were, and people at my college would have frowned on them. Now I work in a large regional theatre with very good budgets, but when I got here, half the inventory was still old Strand radial units (they were calling them "Top Loaders"). The theatre had a bunch of Chroma-Q scrollers, Meteor Elipscans, we even have some GAM Scene Machines (which are pretty cool). I had never touched equipment like this once again because at college it was considered sub par. But, making the transition was not hard for me because one of the biggest pushes at school was in principle, not just with the equipment we had.
I personally believe that it doesn't matter if you learn on low end or out of date equipment as long as you learn the principles. I am not saying that schools should have a multi-scene preset board to teach, but the people who only learned on one are not less qualified. "Channel 6 at 20" whether recorded as a cue on a disk or on paper is the same thing. If you learn how to load a gel string in a Wybron scroller, it is almost exactly the same as loading a gel string in the original Revolution scroller, which is similar to loading a Chroma-Q.
The following quote is from the aforementioned thread:
This is theatre, in other words, it is make do with what you have. Our industry has been this way since the beginning. If you learn how to put on the show with the equipment that you have, then moving to better/ higher end equipment should make life easier. If you start with the easy life in school you may end up being just as unprepared for your first job as the graduate who came from the low budget school.
What do the rest of you think?
In any event, if you didn't read that thread, there was a little debate on what types of equipment is best suited to the educational market, industry standard or not (to be blunt).
I come from a background where I learned on all industry standard equipment for the most part. My first lighting console in middle school (I don't remember the brand) was an analog 2 scene preset that connected to the wall with a cable as thick as my arm. After that we upgraded to an ETC Acclaim 2-scene and from then till college I was on ETC gear. I have to admit, that in terms of ease of use and teach/learnability it is a good way to go. But this is not to say that some other consoles/equipment wouldn't be the same.
Once I got to college I met people that came from all different backgrounds, from people who went to school practically across the street from High End Systems so they had all HES gear, to people who never really touched a memory console. At college we had an Obsession II in the proscenium space, and a Strand 300 in the theatre in the round. The thought was that they could teach students both industry standard consoles. This actually is what turned me into a "Strand Guy." It was quite impressive the number of ways we found to break/crash/piss-off the Obsession, plus for me, the Strand OS just seemed more intuitive/user friendly (EOS might convert me back...). We also had 6 Martin moving heads, and after I graduated thy bought a bunch of VL1000s. This is in addition to the 500+ conventional unit inventory which includes units older than myself and modern units. We had plenty of effects devices too, from scrollers to atmospherics to fiber optics.
Now, chances are, it would have been quite beneficial to me as a student focusing in lighting tech to have exposure to other gear, because in reality there aren't a lot of non-commercial theatres that are outfitted like my college was. I worked on a cruise ship for a while where they have lots of high tech gear, but it isn't always high end equipment. I had never worked with Clay Paky fixtures before, they aren't considered top quality as it were, and people at my college would have frowned on them. Now I work in a large regional theatre with very good budgets, but when I got here, half the inventory was still old Strand radial units (they were calling them "Top Loaders"). The theatre had a bunch of Chroma-Q scrollers, Meteor Elipscans, we even have some GAM Scene Machines (which are pretty cool). I had never touched equipment like this once again because at college it was considered sub par. But, making the transition was not hard for me because one of the biggest pushes at school was in principle, not just with the equipment we had.
I personally believe that it doesn't matter if you learn on low end or out of date equipment as long as you learn the principles. I am not saying that schools should have a multi-scene preset board to teach, but the people who only learned on one are not less qualified. "Channel 6 at 20" whether recorded as a cue on a disk or on paper is the same thing. If you learn how to load a gel string in a Wybron scroller, it is almost exactly the same as loading a gel string in the original Revolution scroller, which is similar to loading a Chroma-Q.
The following quote is from the aforementioned thread:
I can't say that I agree with statements like this. I think that it is more important to get the job done then to buy the newest gear. A 360Q, in functionality is almost exactly the same as a Source 4. If you teach someone how to change a lamp in a 360Q they will have no trouble doing the same for a Source 4, the principle is the same. If s school is outfitted with a NSI console, chances are the student who learned on it will be able to sit down in front of an ETC or Strand and pick up the basics in a few minutes. Besides, if you learned on an Express(ion) then sitting down in front of say a GrandMA is not going to be a walk in the park.Sean said:I know it isn't always good to "follow the herd," but for those of you tasked with selecting gear for educational institutions: buy the gear that's being used. It will make the students' experiences that much more useful to them when they leave, and make supporting the gear easier for you.
And whoever out there is still requesting 360Q's (yes, they are still being sold) ought to be shot.
This is theatre, in other words, it is make do with what you have. Our industry has been this way since the beginning. If you learn how to put on the show with the equipment that you have, then moving to better/ higher end equipment should make life easier. If you start with the easy life in school you may end up being just as unprepared for your first job as the graduate who came from the low budget school.
What do the rest of you think?