Hi everyone. A good friend of mine who is a lighting designer here in the US pointed me to this new release. At first I thought he was referring to VisualDMX, but now I see this is a completely new animal.
I downloaded the Beta and played around a bit: although vastly different from ETC consoles, which I use the most, I can see that the basic elements are there... although some aspects of the programming environment were strange to me (like the 24 fixture limit) I am slowly starting to see how this could be applied to very basic Theatrical productions and especially basic touring shows.
I supopose the main limitation is the fixtures limit: I would call them "areas." The way I see this, after only using the Beta for about 45 minutes, is you place your basic fronts (3 colors), backs, sides and let's say three washes. That uses up 9 fixtures, as they are the minimum amount of lights I would group together without having independent control over each instrument. That leaves 15 fixtures for specials, foot lights, and let's not forget house lights, architectural lights and such in larger venues. So you can see how you may have to get very creative to stay in under the 24 fixture limit.
That being said, I think this is a welcome addition and is very promising: especially with MIDI. I use QLab for audio, video playback and to trigger a lightboard/sound board currently as well as other Macs wirelessly. If CueLux can listen for a MIDI trigger from QLab that would be superb: if I can show up at a theater, plug in my MacBook Pro to the PA, plug in CueLux to the CMX feed, set up my AirPort to talk to the Mini and projector, and have complete control myself without having to PROGRAM a Hog, etc... Wow. All that power and control: as a Production Stage Manager nothing would make me happier... imagine programming a show off-line on the plane using a theater's rep plot, then just showing up and plugging in: amazing.
Over all, I think the price point is fair, given what the software can do, and the promise it shows. I can foresee a lot of smaller theaters and non profits especially clamoring about the 24 fixture limit... since VisualDMX is most likely out of their range... but for some of us touring people and for smaller venues, this could be something really great.
I would love to see somewhat of a "workspace flexible" environment: kind of like what Adobe does with LightRoom (I am also a photographer) so we can choose a workspace: Theater, VJ, DJ, Live Music, Effects, so forth. I would also like to see more robust MIDI options, especially those tailored to Mac OS X's built-in MIDI capabilities.
All in all, very exited about this product and I can't wait to see a tutorial.
Topic: CueLux in Theater (Read 3992 times)
