ETC Express & Moving Lights

EHansenLX

Member
So I'm renting 2 Martin Mac 700 Profiles for an upcoming show and I was figuring on renting an Element as my control console. However, most of what I'm doing will be fairly simple and I'm wondering if just working with the Express 48/96 we already have would be sufficient.

Anybody have any experience with this?
 
The Martins eat up 23 addresses ea. in basic mode and you would need to allocate 46 console channels on an Express. That can affect the rest of your rig.

Then there's the basic Eos mover functionality with part of that available on an Element. NONE of that is available on an Express and it becomes a case of the Express becomes a PITA to control movers as compared to the Element. Color picker, Moving Light section, focus/beam/color palettes etc.. are all available, as are Magic Sheets.

ETC provides a free off-line editor - Nomad, I'd recommend downloading and trying some of the functions. There's a lot of pre-configuring you can do to save time.

Element in a heartbeat.
 
It can be done... its not exactly easily. You don't get any of the pallets or mark cues. The element will speed things up but you'll still have a bunch of keypresses to make anything actually happen. I'm still not sold on the EOS line as a moving light desk... but thats just me. It really depends on if you want to learn how a moving light works or if you want to just get the show up as fast as possible. Building a profile for the Mac700 and programming it on the express will teach you a lot. You do have focus points that are very useful on the express. You will have to be vigilant about pre-cueing and post cueing moves and watching for hot moves. It can be done though. If you want to learn the nuts and bolts of moving light programming its not a bad way to go. It will allow you to appreciate what the modern desks do a bit more. There is something to be said for doing it on the express and learning how that works. On the other hand there is something to be said about learning how to do it on a modern desk too. If you have the cash, get the element. An ion would be even better...
 
Its definitely doable, even if its not that pleasant. The challenge is making everything fit, and what goes on page 1 vs page 2 of the channels. 16 bit and LTP are both available. If you want to try to load a personaility, you'll need a floppy. ETC actually has a pile of premade ones, and the Mac 700 might be old enough to be included, otherwise the editor isn't too hard. I've run up to 8 movers on an Express, and the most PITA bit of it for me was anything that involved pan, tilt, and effect cues or submasters.
 
If the mover is an 'adjustable special' then the Express might work. Change aim, color, fade up for each scene, fade out. It can do that.
If you want anything fancy from the movers, go Element.
 

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