Speaker: Rob Halliday
I'm post live from my phone with key thoughts from the lecture.
Also known as the second annual Rob Halliday rant on why modern consoles are such a pain.
Why do consoles need to be so complicated? Why can't a console be easy enough for a designer to just create? Why can't you "play" a console any more? Busking used to be an interactive art. Memory consoles have given us the ability to duplicate a look perfectly but in the process they have gotten extremely complicated. Art has been replaced with logic.
Rob likes the modular approach of consoles like the Galaxy from 1980. Today we have the option of fader wings, but that's about it. Back then there was a wide variety of optional control surface options.
The original Light Palette was a huge breakthrough in control using text. The desk was controlled the way designers think. Our modern conventional consoles still use essentially the same approach. Note the EOS looks quite a bit like the original light pallet.
Moving light consoles came along and they handle a lot of information well. They were good at controlling a lot of fixtures.
Light Moves in 1989 essentially had RDM capabilities. It used degrees of movement. It spoke in terms of color.
The Hog was a revolution. "The GrandMA was like the Whole Hog, but in German. The GrandMA 2 is like the GrandMA but in black." Ma had a lot of forward thinking. They planned years ahead for the needs of future technology.
If you watch a concert, why do the sound guys dance and play along while lighting guys just press a button? What happens if the music changes? He just presses go as usual.
Why is it that all modern consoles are sort of the same?
Why can't I make adjustments to multiple lights simultaneously? I.e
I can't take control of tow fixtures and make them do different things and tweak simultaneously.
What's the difference between GrandMA, EOS and Strand Light Palette today?
Palette is a Prius with cool tech inside but it looks like crap and no one really likes to drive it.
The Grandma looks like a high performance race car but you have to be a professional driver. If you make the slightest mistake you crash and burn. EOS is a practical car that your parents buy. It doesn't look amazing but it gets the job done.
Why are consoles so hard to read at a distance?
Why can't we have multi-touch touch screens?
Why all the crazy bright colors when we work in dark rooms?
There are so many ways that consoles are actually going backwards because intuitive interaction is continually being replaced with more complicated features.
Really Good things:
WYSIWYG
Virtual magic sheets...cool but problems with implementation
The ability to custom label buttons... one even allows symbols. And shapes
Pixel Mapping in the GrandMA.
Light Factory can track your power consumption and will back off the master when you start pushing you Max load.
I'm post live from my phone with key thoughts from the lecture.
Also known as the second annual Rob Halliday rant on why modern consoles are such a pain.
Why do consoles need to be so complicated? Why can't a console be easy enough for a designer to just create? Why can't you "play" a console any more? Busking used to be an interactive art. Memory consoles have given us the ability to duplicate a look perfectly but in the process they have gotten extremely complicated. Art has been replaced with logic.
Rob likes the modular approach of consoles like the Galaxy from 1980. Today we have the option of fader wings, but that's about it. Back then there was a wide variety of optional control surface options.
The original Light Palette was a huge breakthrough in control using text. The desk was controlled the way designers think. Our modern conventional consoles still use essentially the same approach. Note the EOS looks quite a bit like the original light pallet.
Moving light consoles came along and they handle a lot of information well. They were good at controlling a lot of fixtures.
Light Moves in 1989 essentially had RDM capabilities. It used degrees of movement. It spoke in terms of color.
The Hog was a revolution. "The GrandMA was like the Whole Hog, but in German. The GrandMA 2 is like the GrandMA but in black." Ma had a lot of forward thinking. They planned years ahead for the needs of future technology.
If you watch a concert, why do the sound guys dance and play along while lighting guys just press a button? What happens if the music changes? He just presses go as usual.
Why is it that all modern consoles are sort of the same?
Why can't I make adjustments to multiple lights simultaneously? I.e
I can't take control of tow fixtures and make them do different things and tweak simultaneously.
What's the difference between GrandMA, EOS and Strand Light Palette today?
Palette is a Prius with cool tech inside but it looks like crap and no one really likes to drive it.
The Grandma looks like a high performance race car but you have to be a professional driver. If you make the slightest mistake you crash and burn. EOS is a practical car that your parents buy. It doesn't look amazing but it gets the job done.
Why are consoles so hard to read at a distance?
Why can't we have multi-touch touch screens?
Why all the crazy bright colors when we work in dark rooms?
There are so many ways that consoles are actually going backwards because intuitive interaction is continually being replaced with more complicated features.
Really Good things:
WYSIWYG
Virtual magic sheets...cool but problems with implementation
The ability to custom label buttons... one even allows symbols. And shapes
Pixel Mapping in the GrandMA.
Light Factory can track your power consumption and will back off the master when you start pushing you Max load.
