LightShark Controls

porkchop

Well-Known Member
I'm hoping if I lay the groundwork and create this thread that @dvsDave or @gafftaper will come by with a great video explaining it better, but LightShark was probably on my top 3 list of things that I'll tell a customer to buy before next LDI.

They where showing 2 products inside the WorkPro booth. A fader wing and what they call a "core DMX engine". Both could transmit up to 8 universes of DMX. and they connect to touch devices (Ipad, iPhone, that Android tablet you have no use for anymore, etc...) to use as screens for a digital control surface. They had fixture profiles, an elementary effects engine, OSC and other standard show control connectivity, and a lot of other goodies. My memory is that the price they told me was $1k for the wing and $600 for the core, but a quick peruse of the internet makes it look like $1.5k and $650 is closer to reality. Either way I think this makes it one of the most economic sounding options for a school or similar environment.

For my niche in the business, the ability to buy the LS-Core and stash it away inside a piece scheduled to play certain cue stacks at predetermined times it a really compelling option. There is also the ability to connect to these devices over wifi to trigger a cue stack from a phone or similar device. Needless to say, I was impressed.

There was some chatter about this system in the LDI Day 1 thread so hopefully there are some people here with hands on experience they'd like to share about these units.
 
So we didn't notice the Lightshark until about a half hour before the show closed when @porkchop texted me. So unfortunately there's no video or pictures. But I have to say, it's a really slick and powerful little system that has jumped way into the lead when it comes to simple budget light consoles. Work W is a company from Spain, so that's why you probably haven't heard of them before. So basically you either buy this small board called the Light Shark LS-1 for $1000
LS_seu_desk.png

or you get this small box called the Light Shark LS-Core for $600
LS_Core_grande.jpg

From there you connect an iPad, iphone, Android Tablet, Android Phone, Windows laptop basically anything that has wifi will work and can be used with it. If you buy the Core then the tablet is the controller. IF you buy the LS-1 it's a display and interface. The system can work with three displays simultaneously. I believe it comes with 2 universes of DMX outputs and 6 more universes available over the RJ45 port. The software wasn't as pretty as some of the others out there, but it was easy to use and very powerful. It sort of reminded me of a slightly stripped down version of the Avo Titan software actually... which is pretty high praise. They claim any experienced operator can learn to use it in 15 minutes and I think they are right. I heard they were using the LS1 to run Blizzard lights in the Blizzard/ModTruss booth.

It was late in the show and we basically only got a 5 minute quick pitch of the board from a very tired sales guy. But my initial reaction was extremely positive. I think it could be an excellent first step into the world of modern lighting for a church, small club, school, or community theater on a budget. Yeah it's not a full console, but it's super portable which brings up lots of options, and it has a lot more bang for the buck than anything we've seen in this price range. It's the first thing I've seen in the $1000 and under price range that really gets me excited. I would love to really spend some time with it and hope to see it again soon. The idea that for $600 you can throw a box a little larger than a Clear Com beltpack in your bag and control it with your phone to have up to 8 universes of DMX is amazing!

Here's the link to the Light Shark Home Page.

They also have a fade wing coming next spring. If I understood correctly it adds the ability to access two more universes via DMX plugs leaving you only 4 stuck on RJ45. The guy didn't want to tell us the price but judging on the price of their other products, it's not going to break your budget. The wing panel is going to be called the "LS-Wing". Here is what it's going to look like:
Work-Pro-LS-WING.jpg

They also have a collection of 1, 2, 4, and 8 unvierse nodes coming in the spring too. I really wish I would have noticed them earlier in the show as it was a VERY interesting product line that I wish I would have had more time with.
 
I wouldn't want to run a big show on one, but I was impressed with the quality of the hardware, and the digital interface was easy to read and straightforward. A lot more responsive than I expected for a browser based interface. It is really hard to argue with 8 universes of output for 1k and the price of a tablet device. I won't be adding them to my rental stock, but they'll be high on my list for anyone that has a high priority on being able to tablet control a show for a low expense. An important note, both the core and the LS-1 are full consoles that host the show. Your tablet or phone is only an interface, and your show won't go down if you run out of battery or walk out of wifi range. If I was still freelancing, I'd seriously consider a core for my backpack, even if it was only for testing and ringing out a rig.
 
I wouldn't want to run a big show on one, but I was impressed with the quality of the hardware, and the digital interface was easy to read and straightforward. A lot more responsive than I expected for a browser based interface.

That's what blew me away. The rep was rocking through the interface and about halfway through his spiel, it came up that it was a browser based interface. I almost flat out called BS to his face, till he brought up the URL bar and showed me. Some unreal fast HTML 5 going on. I was shocked. I mean, truly blown away. I would love to peek under the hood and see how it's being done. Aside from the tiny hardware, that's the real genius of the system. A user interface that is completely device agnostic. If the device can run a modern browser and has a wired or wireless interface, it's good. Now, to be fair, all the demos were on iPads and iPad Pros. I definitely want to get some hands on time with a demo unit.
 
There seems to be a large demand for the Under $2000 real console. I believe that Blizzard is the US distributor, which is a great help. You can find many vendors online. There was also a lot of interest in the Zero88 FLX but it doesn't seem to be getting any traction in the US. Lehigh did finally add the FLX to their website, but no online dealers seem to carry it.
 
I wouldn't want to run a big show on one... If I was still freelancing, I'd seriously consider a core for my backpack, even if it was only for testing and ringing out a rig.
Totally agree. Its an amazing spare console. For those situations where a church is finally deciding to add a few stage lights or LED's. A group finds a weird space and decides to turn it into a theater. The coffee shop that wants to have a small stage. There are a lot of perfect applications for this that aren't huge rigs, but the ooerator wants something that looks and feels like a big console.
 
That's what blew me away. The rep was rocking through the interface and about halfway through his spiel, it came up that it was a browser based interface. I almost flat out called BS to his face, till he brought up the URL bar and showed me. Some unreal fast HTML 5 going on. I was shocked. I mean, truly blown away. I would love to peek under the hood and see how it's being done. Aside from the tiny hardware, that's the real genius of the system. A user interface that is completely device agnostic. If the device can run a modern browser and has a wired or wireless interface, it's good. Now, to be fair, all the demos were on iPads and iPad Pros. I definitely want to get some hands on time with a demo unit.
So it would run on a Chromebook?
 
As far as I know, yes. Although I would stress that it is definitely optimized for a touchscreen.
Yeah from what I understand anything with a web browser will work. You could even use a Linux laptop. I would definitely lean towards a good iPad or laptop with a touch screen.
 
The console/interface will work with ANY device that has a web browser
 
Yeah a chromebook with a touch screen would be a perfect match for this device around $800-$900 you can have a fully functional light desk in your backpack
 
revising a dead thread to see if anyone has any more experience with this.

I'm looking to outfit a classroom where I could have small groups of students working at the same time to control their own small groups of lights. All my students have chromebooks - I'm looking for a simple way to give them access to experiment with color and, in an ideal world, building a simple show.
 
revising a dead thread to see if anyone has any more experience with this.

I'm looking to outfit a classroom where I could have small groups of students working at the same time to control their own small groups of lights. All my students have chromebooks - I'm looking for a simple way to give them access to experiment with color and, in an ideal world, building a simple show.

Hi Ashley,

Do you already have some of the gear? lights, dimming/power, etcetera?
 

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