Lighting control console

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Strand Lighting 300 Series Control Console

An Express 48/96 memory console by Electronic Theatre Controls capable of controlling both normal stage lighting instruments as well as intelligent lighting.

A Marquee lighting control console made by Entertainment Technology

Lighting control consoles (also called lighting boards or lighting desks) are electronic devices used in theatrical lighting design to control multiple lights at once. They are used throughout the entertainment industry and are normally placed at the Front of House (FOH) position or in a control booth.

All lighting control consoles can control dimmers which, in turn, control the intensity of the lights. Many modern consoles can also control automated lighting (lights that can move and change colors), fog machines and hazers, and other special effects devices.

Lighting consoles communicate with the dimmers and other devices in the lighting system via an electronic control protocol. The most common protocol used in the entertainment industry today is DMX-512, although other protocols (e.g. AMX, LMX, analog) may still be found in use, and newer protocols such as ACN are evolving to meet the demands of ever increasing device sophistication.

1 Types of control consoles
2 External links
3 See also
- 3.1 Manufacturers of light boards
- 3.2 Lighting control software

[edit] Types of control consoles

Consoles vary in size and complexity, from small preset boards, to dedicated moving light consoles.
The purpose of all lighting consoles, however is the same: to consolidate control of the lights into an organized, easy-to-use system, so that the lighting designer can concentrate on producing a good show. Most consoles accept MIDI Show Control signals and commands to allow show control systems to integrate their capabilities into more complex shows.

[edit] Preset boards

Preset boards are the most basic lighting consoles - and also the most prevalent in smaller installations. They consist of two or more identical fader banks, called 'scenes.' The faders (control slides) on these scenes can be manually adjusted. Each scene has the same number of channels which control the same dimmers, but only one is live at a time, so the console operator can build a scene, then fade to it. These scenes are often referred to as A-scenes and B-scenes, and a cross-fader is used to fade between the A and B scene.

Generally, a preset board operator has a cue sheet for each scene, which is a diagram of the board with the faders in their positions as determined by the lighting designer. The operator sets the faders into their positions based on the cue sheets. Typically during a cue, the operator sets the next scene. Then, the operator makes the transition between the scenes using the cross-fader.

Preset boards are not as prevalent since the advent of digital consoles, which can store scenes digitally, and are generally much less cumbersome than preset boards. However, for small setups such as that of a DJ, they remain the board of choice for their simple to use interface and relative flexibility. Preset boards generally control only conventional lights; though some advanced consoles can be patched to operate intelligent lights in a round-about way.

[edit] Memory consoles

Memory-based consoles have become very popular in almost all larger installations, particularly theatres. These new types of controls have completely replaced preset consoles as controllers of choice. Memory consoles are preferable in productions where scenes do not change from show to show, such as a theatre production, because scenes are designed and digitally recorded, so there is less room for human error, and less manpower is required to produce the same result.

Memory consoles have a bank of faders called 'submasters.' These submasters can be programmed to control a single channel (a channel is a lighting designer's numerical name for a dimmer or group of dimmers) or a group of channels. On some more advanced consoles, submasters can be used to control effects, chases (sequences of cues), and moving light effects (if the console can control moving lights).

[edit] Moving light controllers

Moving Light Controllers are another step up in sophistication from Memory Consoles. As well as being capable of controlling ordinary luminares via dimmers, they provide additional controls for intelligent fixtures. On midrange controllers, these are usually provided as a section separate from main Preset and Cue stack controls. These include an array of buttons allowing the operator to select the fixture or fixtures they want to control, and a number of wheels or rotary encoders to control fixture attributes such as the orientation (pan and tilt), focus, colour, gobos etc. found in this type of light. Unlike a fader that shows its value based on the position of a slider, a wheel is continuously variable and provides no visual feedback for the value of a particular control. Some form of display such as LCD or LED is therefore vital for displaying this information. More advanced desks typically have one or more touchscreens, and present a GUI that integrates all the aspects of the lighting.

As there is no standard way of controlling an intelligent light, an important function for this type of desk is to consolidate the various ways in which the hundreds of types of intelligent lights are controlled into a single abstract interface for the user. By integrating knowledge of different fixtures and their attributes into the lighting desk software, the detail of how an attribute such as pan or tilt is controlled for one device vs. another can be hidden from the operator. This frees the operator to think in terms of what they want to achieve (e.g. pan 30 degrees clockwise) instead of how it is achieved for any given fixture (e.g. send value 137 down channel 23). Furthermore, should a lighting fixture need to be replaced with one from a different vendor that has different control sequences, no change need be apparent to the control operator. For some further discussion on how intelligent fixtures are controlled, see Digital Multiplex.

[edit] Personal computer-based controllers

Personal Computer (PC) based controllers are relatively new, and use software with a feature set similar to that found in a hardware-based console. As dimmers, automated fixtures and other standard lighting devices do not generally have current standard computer interfaces, options such as DMX-512 ports and fader/submaster panels connected via USB are commonplace.

This system allows a "build-to-fit" approach: the end user initially provides a PC that fits their budget and any other needs with future options to improve the system, for example, by increasing the number of DMX outputs or additional console style panels.

Many lightboard vendors offer a PC software version of their consoles. Commercial lighting control software often requires a specific, and possibly expensive, hardware DMX interface. However, inexpensive (<$150) DMX PC interfaces and free or Open source software are available.

Many console vendors also make a software simulator or "offline editor" for their hardware consoles, and these are often downloadable for free. The simulator can be used to pre-program a show, and the cues then loaded into the actual console. In addition, lighting visualization software is available to simulate and approximate how lighting will appear on stage, and this can be useful for programming effects and spotting obvious programming errors such as incorrect colour changes.

[edit] Remote focus unit

Many memory consoles have an optional Remote Focus Unit (RFU) controller that can be attacthed to the light board and used to control the boards functions (though usually in some limited capacity). They are usually small enough to be handheld. This is ideal in situations where moving the light board is impractical, but control is needed away from where the board is; i.e. if the light board is in a control room that doesn't have a clear view of the entire stage, an RFU can be attached and an electrician or the lighting designer can bring it to a location where the stage can be seen clearly. Some of the newer, more advanced boards have RFU's that can be connected through USB or even wirelessly.