Control/Dimming Consoles out there

[mikebowen]

Hi all
I'm new to here for posting, but have skimmed the forums in the past. I am TD of a small (300ish seat) producing house on the west coast of Canada.
I am starting to look at new lighting control and am wondering what's out there. We are presently running express/emphasis and I am not very happy with it. We have mostly coventionals in the rig with a small amount of automation. We are not a roadhouse, and basically do not do rock and roll at all.
I have specs on the ETC Element and Ion coming, so are there any comments on those two consoles? What else is out there that is theatre friendly and reasonably priced?
For reference, the last time I ran a console for a living it was an Express, which I loved and I couldn't believe it when the stopped producing that whole platform.
Thanks in advance
Mike

 

[epimetheus]

We've got an Ion at my church and it's been wonderful. We run mostly conventionals on our services but we're adding increasing amounts of LED's and movers. The Ion handles this very nicely. It's interface will also be very familiar to anyone who has run a console in the Express family.

 

[derekleffew]

...an Express, which I loved and I couldn't believe it when the stopped producing that whole platform.

We (some, at least) couldn't believe it either, see To scene, or not too scene; alas poor Express.... But the Element has proven to be a formidable replacement, which actually does more and costs less. http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/news/11877-etc-element-demo.html .

The only other real contender for price and features would be a Strand Palette of some flavor, http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/...37-report-strand-palette-lighting-boards.html .

See also the thread: http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/lighting-electrics/14564-help-me-pick-console.html .

EDIT: Oh, and Mike: Welcome to CB. You've obviously come to the right place. Lots of opinions and experience here.

 

[metti]

If you liked the Express, you'll love the Element or the Ion. If you have movers, even just a few, on a regular basis, than the Ion is worth the extra cost just for the encoders. Otherwise, the Element would probably be a good fit for you.

Other theatre oriented options in that general price range are the Strand Classic Palette or Palette VL and the Zero 88 ORB.

 

[DuckJordan]

There has been many posts and threads started about the Ion, many of them have great information on their. Just doing a search for Ion brings up a ton of threads. That said, since you are experienced with an express the Ion should come really easy for you, the element is just the little brother of the Ion with only 1 DMX universe control (512 channels) If you plan on upgrading your DMX system to use some movers or LED's i would definitely recommend the Ion, We have an Express and an Ion in our venue and its easy to go between the two consoles. We've been very happy with the Ion so far this will be the 5th show done on it as we just got it in July. We've performed musicals and straight plays as well as a few one off dance shows. We have a rig of conventionals and 2 movers with 8 4 channel LED units. We also have the ETC net system installed so we can get upgrades if need be.

 

[derekleffew]

...the element is just the little brother of the Ion with only 1 DMX universe control (512 channels) ...

Err, all four versions of Element are capable of 1024 outputs/parameters: 2 DMX-512 ports, Ethernet (ETCNet2, Net3, Art-Net, and AVAB UDP protocols).

 

[soundlight]

the element is just the little brother of the Ion with only 1 DMX universe control (512 channels)

I take issue with two things here: the one that Derek referenced (The Element has 1024 DMX output addresses, 2 universes - please check specs before posting), and the fact that talking about Channels with the whole EOS/ION/Element line needs to be made clear: A channel is a fixture; it can be a single conventional fixture, a moving light, a composite fixture (S4 on a dimmer with an I-Cue, Seachanger, and DMX Iris). The Element has either 250 or 500 channels (depending on the model that you purchase), so it can control up to 250 or 500 fixtures. A single fixture, as I mentioned, can be as little as a dimmer or as large as a media server layer or a long LED fixture in full pixel mode. You just have to keep the addresses taken up by those 250 or 500 fixtures within the 1024 outputs.

Now to the OP:

If you don't have many movers, as you seem to indicate, go with the Element. As a user of the Express you'll find it very easy to use, you'll just have to get used to the lack of a release button and how that impacts your programming. It's already becoming for an industry standard for a reason - it's an excellent desk.

EDIT: I should rephrase a bit of that - it's not the number of movers you have, but how much you use them. If you have only four movers but you use them intensively every single show, you will really, really want the encoders.

Also, a touchscreen is a wonderful thing when it comes to the Element or the ION - I'd say that two touchscreens, 17 or 19 inches, should be in the budget when you spec the console. They make things so much easier, and the console was designed to use them.

 

[SteveB]

If you want ETC reliability and support then it's Element or Ion.

Ion, with some fader wings, is better at doing movers and all the new stuff, if only as the controls are on the desktop - encoders and dedicated color/beam/form etc.. buttons, so a lot less work with a mouse to get to the functions. The other thing that makes life easy is having touch screen monitors to access the assorted groups, palettes and presets. One nice thing about Ion is you can add on add'l wings and touch screen monitors as budget allows.

In any event doing ANY kind of control with movers and other-then-conventional fixtures is immensely easier on Element and Ion then on Express with Emphasis.

FWIW, we had Express with Emphasis and went to an Ion in Oct. of '09. The functionality of the console in terms of how it deals with movers, scrollers and LED's has totally changed the way we use our in-house movers as well as changed what we buy in the future, it's that much an improvement.

 

[ClaytonHubick]

Hi Mike,

You may want to check out Martin's new M1 Controller as an option
Product - M1™

Shoot me an email [email protected]

Regards,

CH

 

[Ric]

We have an ETC Congo, it does both moving/intelligent lighting and conventials very well, and has a really good control surface that adpats to either rock style shows or Theatre shows.