Now that automated lighting fixtures are becoming common in houses of worship, many churches are finding it necessary to update their lighting controllers to fully take advantage of this technology. During my recent visit to LDI 2010, I encountered many new lighting control products that are truly on the cutting edge of technology. Unfortunately, many of these products are so technically sophisticated it seems that a computer geek is required to program them. This is not ideal for houses of worship that depend on people who are not MIT graduates to program and run their lighting boards.
Mega Systems has come up with a novel idea. Why not design a sophisticated automated lighting controller that is designed to be extremely simple to program and run? Mega System's console designers have met this challenge with the Enlighten DMX Lighting Control Software and Control Wing.
Originally, Mega Systems developed its excellent control software designed as a standalone product for a personal computer running Windows. The Enlighten DMX Lighting software was relatively inexpensive, especially when compared to conventional lighting control boards. It had a simple virtual button-based user interface based on tried and true "drop and drag" features. Although the software was successful in its own right, users wanted a more "hands-on" interface with real control dials and buttons. To answer its customers needs, Mega Systems recently introduced a hardware control wing that is specifically designed for their Enlighten software.
Mega Systems was kind enough to send the Enlighten DMX Lighting Control Software and their new Control Wing to our lighting lab at California State University, Long Beach. We used the Enlighten for several weeks on student projects incorporating automated lights, as well as on a department production using conventional lighting fixtures. As usual, I challenged my students to explore the software and see if they could break it. I am happy to report that they failed. Not once did they crash the software (unlike many other Windows-based lighting controllers).
An Up-close Look
As the control wing is the primary user interface to the software, the Enlighten software is what really controls the lighting. We appreciated the layout of the software and found it quite intuitive to the programmer's wishes. The initial patch of the automated lighting fixtures was easy and straightforward. When you choose a moving light from the Enlighten's extensive fixture library, the software automatically patches all the attributes for that particular fixture. All you have to do is make sure that the DMX address on the fixture is correct and you are ready to go.
The software uses easy-to-understand graphical virtual "buttons" that represent lighting fixtures and cues. Instead of naming lights according to channels, each light (or group of lights) can be named according to its function. For instance, instead of "Channel 1," you could name the light "Podium Front." Instead of "Channels 23, 24, and 25," you can name that group of lights "Choir Blue Wash." These buttons can be moved around on the screen in any arrangement or sequence. This allows the user to create standardized lighting looks for certain parts of the worship program that can be rearranged for different services. It also makes much more sense than having to completely re-program the lighting sequences just because the worship songs may be in a different order from week to week. You can see how intuitive this would be for someone programming a service.
You can also drag and drop, and organize these buttons on the monitor in any way you desire. You are, in fact, creating a magic sheet on the computer screen. You can also set up multiple views for different sets of lights. For instance, you can have one screen view of all your front light, another screen view of your "specials," another screen view of your moving lights, etc. You can also group lights across multiple views. By pointing with your mouse and curser to the button, you can activate the light and change its level, or control its attributes (if it is a moving light).
In the "Programming Mode" you record cues by choosing multiple lights through their buttons, controlling their attributes, and placing them into a sequence button. This creates a graphical cue list with multiple cue buttons in the sequence. Unlike a standard cue list or timeline, changing the order of these graphical cue sequences is quite easy and intuitive. You can always insert a cue by placing it between two cue buttons. Deleting cues is just as easy. In addition, you can control multiple sequences with one button.
This appeal to the non-technical user continues in the hardware design of the Control Wing. Instead of intimidating black buttons on dark grey backgrounds, there are soft white backlit buttons a light grey background. The wheels feel spongy and friendly to the touch. My students who are used to the hard technology of modern lighting controllers commented how unusual this design was. But they also appreciated how more novice users could find this inviting.
Top-of-the-list Findings
We found that Mega Systems offers an excellent color-picker for moving lights. It proved to be quite helpful and accurate in its matching CMY moving lights to standard Rosco and Lee colors. There is also a very useful gobo-picker that displays the actual gobo patterns in a window. The patterns include the stock gobos in numerous moving lights. You can also insert custom gobos into the library as you add them into your moving lights. This feature, along with the color-picker, will enable you to pre-program the colors and patterns without turning on the lights. Additional features include a preset library of moving light effects, a LED Matrix engine along with LED macros, moving light Palette presets, easy-to-create fixture groups, and a shape generator for movements with offsets.
As an added bonus, Mega Systems includes a rudimentary visualization program in the software. The console does export Art-Net, which should enable the Enlighten to link with sophisticated visualization programs like Cast's WYSIWYG or ESP's Vision. This would permit complete off-line pre-visualization to the Enlighten.
We tested the Enlighten on two productions. One using mostly conventional lighting fixtures, and the other using automated lighting. We found that the Enlighten addressed and controlled the automated lighting with ease. Setting up the patch and programming the lighting was quite intuitive. It is clear that this console was designed with automated lighting in mind.
From our testing we found a few minor issues. Although the set-up was relatively straightforward, we felt that it would be a great help to include a printed user manual. Considering the worship market that Mega Systems has designed this console for, a printed manual would assist neophyte users. To its credit, Mega Systems has a comprehensive "Help List" section on its website, as well as a step-by-step wizard in the software that addresses many of the questions we had.
Regarding the hardware Control Wing, several of my students commented that they would have preferred the printed labeling of the attribute wheels below the wheels instead of above. They found it difficult to see the labeling from a sitting position. Other manufacturers have addressed this design with small LED panels under the wheels, allowing the labeling to dynamically change depending on the function of the wheel. However, it is easy to imagine how this would raise the price of the Control Wing significantly.
The Mega Systems Enlighten DMX Control Software and Control Wing is clearly designed for the worship market. Although some in the theatrical world may feel that it incorporates an unusual programming and playback syntax, when you clear your mind of previous control designs you will see that Enlighten's software design may be superior for the worship market. For those with little experience in conventional and automated lighting control, this software is very easy to grasp. Remember, the less time you spend trying to figure out the light board, the more time you can devote to your lighting art.
