ETC News of the day...
- Thread starterjmabray
- Start date
Don't worry, I think there are enough of these in the market that you'll find used ones for years to come, plus I'm sure there will still be new ones sitting on dealer shelves for awhile yet anyways.
It's time for ETC to advance the entertainment lighting industry yet again, so I eagerly await what they will develop in years to come.
It's time for ETC to advance the entertainment lighting industry yet again, so I eagerly await what they will develop in years to come.
jmabray
Active Member
I would have to know what it was about the 48/96 that you were looking to replace, but there are very nice options for that provided by ETC. The larger consoles are built on the premise that you talk to moving lights the same way that you do conventionals -using the same syntax and concepts. They do conventional fixtures as well, if not better, than ETC has ever done, but also add moving light control into that realm, which has never been a strong suit of theirs...
Get a demo of the desks. Either Congo jr or Ion. Either one are pretty good replacements for the Express line in most situations...
I completely agree. I am currently working with two express boards and couldn't be happier, but in the summer I use a smartfade and I HATE IT. It seems like there are replacements, but not all in one. The smartfade take care of the two scene preset part, the Ion will take care of all the heavy programming (especially since the syntax is the same), but there is no all in one replacement. I know for our drama festivals and such, the express has been the perfect desk, as everybody wants to run their show a different way. I don't see being able to do this with the Ion and definitely not with the smartfade. I must say though, I tried out the Ion at BLMC, and was quite impressed, as it has such a low price tag.
Not that I don't like discussing the topic of consoles, but this was all covered a few weeks ago.
http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/lighting/8041-scene-not-too-scene-alas-poor-express.html
Steve B.
http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/lighting/8041-scene-not-too-scene-alas-poor-express.html
Steve B.
The one i bought today is spec'd for an all girls school. They needed something very simple, but something that still had the ability to run cue to cue. The strand 500 they have is way too much for them and too confusing.
Probably more like a software update for the ION/EOS. Most people would miss the Express because they love the channel feature of the faders on the board. This is something that unless I missed an update, the fader wings of the ION simply won't do...yet. I have been told that they are working on this though when we had our demo. I guess we will just have to sit back and wait to see if that is accurate.
Personally, I'm much faster at typing away on the keypad and will put certain things on subs so the current setup doesn't bother me much.
Personally, I'm much faster at typing away on the keypad and will put certain things on subs so the current setup doesn't bother me much.
Les
Well-Known Member
I learned primarily on an Expression III console, so keypads are second nature to me. However, my local community theatre has the Express 125 and I find it's channels great, because I can program specials and color washes, etc on the submasters and have direct access to the FOH area lights through the channels. It makes recording go so much faster not having to page between subs so often trying to balance area/front lighting with the color washes and things of that nature. Plus having tons of sliders just makes it look more like a light board. I guess I just like sitting behind a big complicated looking desk. Maybe I should get more into sound.
This is sad. I learned, and still work on an Express 48/96. For a high school theater without moving lights, it's the perfect board IMO. Especially for focus when I'm on the catwalk and yelling channels. If we only had a keypad the new people wouldn't have a clue what to do. With channel faders you just say "Push up 1, channel 1 comes up. Same with the other 95 channel faders." And nothing else really fills the hole of the Express line. There's a lot of two-scene presets on the one hand and boards that are too much for a simple educational institution on the other hand. If anyone disagrees with me, let me know, because I've been looking around for Express equivalents.
I for one would love to own the LAST Expression3 to come off the line, but I realize it makes no economic sense. As for the people lamenting the loss of slider per channel, that only works in systems with less than 96 channels of conventionals anyway. If you learned light board operation by having a designer say "channel 1 at 70", (on piano board it was "Dimmer [or switch] #1 at 7"), you'll have no problems adapting to a keypad-only type data entry system. If you learned lighting by simultaneously designing and programming, which I often argue against, I can understand missing the sliders.
I can't recall which textbook it's in, but the author makes a very strong case for the LD not even being close to a console or display, because it intimidates Directors, and encourages the LD to bury himself in the data and numbers, instead of watching the stage and verbally communicating with the Director. Have you noticed many/most Directors tend to avoid the tech table in the house? There are several very good reasons why professional Lighting Designers rarely, if ever, touch a console.
I admit to having "pretended" to be involved in a serious Clear-Com discussion when I see a certain Director approaching me. Once for a corporate show, an LD began his spotlight speech: "Okay, here's what's going to happen. We're going to rehearse a number, then they're going to yell at us. We'll fix it, run it again, and move on." And the day went exactly as he said, for 14 hours, rehearsing for a 2 hour general session.
I can't recall which textbook it's in, but the author makes a very strong case for the LD not even being close to a console or display, because it intimidates Directors, and encourages the LD to bury himself in the data and numbers, instead of watching the stage and verbally communicating with the Director. Have you noticed many/most Directors tend to avoid the tech table in the house? There are several very good reasons why professional Lighting Designers rarely, if ever, touch a console.
I admit to having "pretended" to be involved in a serious Clear-Com discussion when I see a certain Director approaching me. Once for a corporate show, an LD began his spotlight speech: "Okay, here's what's going to happen. We're going to rehearse a number, then they're going to yell at us. We'll fix it, run it again, and move on." And the day went exactly as he said, for 14 hours, rehearsing for a 2 hour general session.
