[LCtalk] Kudos for the Lanbox

[Carey Weathers]

All at CDS Technology,

I've been meaning to write to you over the last several years about my 
experience with your products (LCX and LCEdit), so now I'm finally 
getting around to it. In short, it has been one of the best set of 
products I have ever used, and the more I learn about it, the more 
amazed I am. Also, I want to especially congratulate you on your service 
and interaction with the users. I don't think I've seen a company more 
committed to helping it's users or more responsive to it's users 
requests. I have several topics I would like to discuss but for now I'll 
stick with my general experience. You are welcome to share it with any 
whom are interested.

Quickly about myself, I am an engineer and work primarily on software 
and hardware development/design/integration. I have no formal theatre or 
lighting training. I have had many years of experience in worship sound. 
In fact, prior to four years ago, all I had ever done was run eight 
lights on a simple DMX controller. Basically, manual dimming.  As I 
became more involved in the technical aspects of my church's nativity 
performance I quickly became involved in lighting. I have learned some 
from others who know the theatre from the aspect of stage 
construction/design and running light desks. But not anyone doing 
lighting design. So, I am mostly self taught with some help in learning 
the artistic aspects from those I've worked with. (Note, I'm still 
learning in all areas.)

About four years ago, my church (Arborlawn United Methodist Church 
(AUMC) in Fort Worth, Texas, USA) was granted some money to purchase 
light and sound equipment for our outdoor live nativity performance.  It 
was a good sum but not huge. This money allowed us to purchase some much 
needed speakers and amps for sound, but more importantly about 30 
conventional light fixtures, stands, etc. (In previous years we had 
rented 8-10 fixtures, and a couple of follow spots.) The problem I had 
was that there was not enough money for a sophisticated light controller 
and an inexpensive controller was not going to be easy to use with 
all-volunteers and that many lights. Then I had the thought that maybe 
we could utilize a computer control system and started doing some 
searches. When I found your product I was amazed at its capabilities and 
low price. For a fraction of the cost of a conventional desk, I could 
purchase your LCX and a Mac iBook. And I would have a control system 
that could go well beyond what a conventional desk could do.

The first year, we setup the LCX cues to run the show per the script.  
We quickly learned that volunteers and non-professional actors don't 
follow a script very well. We spent a large part of that year's 
performance overriding the controls manually. However, the LCX performed 
flawlessly. I was instantly amazed at the abilities of the LCX and 
LCEdit to run a large number of lights. And the ability to see what was 
going on, grab and change things quickly, etc. helped tremendously. It 
didn't take long for me to appreciate your products, both hardware and 
software. And it didn't take long to learn the product's basic 
operation. However, I knew that I was just scratching the surface of 
this product's capabilities.

The next year, I spent some time learning layers and breaking up the 
script into performance areas. Then, I assigned an engine/layer to each 
performance area. I also created groups to help in the selecting of 
lights for when I would need to override things. The basic layout was to 
have a high level layer that could be utilized to manually override any 
channel value, followed by a layer to run control cues and then layers 
for each performance area. On the bottom, I put a layer with default 
values, just in case. In addition, I built an eight button switch box to 
connect to the LCX's inputs and assigned, through my cue lists, these 
buttons to different performance areas.  Basically, these buttons would 
step the associated performance area to the next light cue for that 
layer. This worked well. We were able to run the show with very few 
overrides and we could control each area of the performance individually 
with the buttons, and occasional backwards step/go command. That year, 
instead of just having lights, we were able to make the lights do what 
we wanted in sync with the (out of sync) performers.

The third year with the LCX, was even better. We were able to work with 
the artistic side and develop real lighting design/plans. As far as the 
LCX, I further enhanced our setup. I continued to use the layer approach 
developed in the previous year with cues specified for each engine/layer 
that only operated the lights in that engine/layer.  Instead of 
utilizing the eight buttons, because I really wanted 10-12 buttons, I 
decided to try out the Applescript interface capabilities.  This is just 
awesome. Utilizing Applescript Studio, I can create as many buttons on 
the computer screen as I want and each can do pretty much anything that 
I want. In addition, I can change them (add, reassign, etc.) in just 
minutes. My basic philosophy was to create buttons for flexibility. So I 
tried to think how I could do that. I have several usage areas on the 
button window:
  First, an engine control area. This area has buttons to start an 
engine at a specific default control list, buttons to run cue lists for 
specific light levels (off, low, medium, high) and engine step (forward 
and backward) buttons.
  Next was a scene control area. This area has buttons to run a cue in 
the control engine/layer that commands each of the other engines/layers 
to run a cue list for the scene. For example, "PreShow" - sets all 
lights to the state needed when the audience is arriving. Or, 
"Announcement" - sets the lights for when the welcome statement is made 
by the pastor.
  Lastly, are several areas with specific lighting conditions in the 
performance areas. For example, one button in the main stage area - 
"Angle Dance" - would set the lights in the main area to the levels 
needed for the dance the angles perform as they fly around the 
shepherds, but not disturb other settings.
All of these gave us great flexibility to respond to unexpected events 
and choices to make the lighting much more artistic.

Things went so well, we have now adapted this setup to run our new 
contemporary service and we are using all of our lights in there as 
well. This environment is even more unpredictable as you never know who 
is going to talk and where they will be. And, it gives us the ability to 
focus and color all around the room. This system has proven to be 
extremely easy for volunteers, who know nothing about lighting, theatre, 
etc., to use. Especially given that labeled buttons on-screen make it 
very intuitive.

Future plans are to continue the development of our lighting 
setup/design and make it more flexible and easier to use. In addition, 
we are in the process of building two new sanctuaries. I hope to utilize 
the LCX as a lighting controller for these new sanctuaries with wall 
buttons connected to the inputs of the LCX to provide simple manual 
control for non-worship and small event situations, and 
LCEdit/Applescript as the means to control lighting during our weekly 
services. Also, our band leader is interested in utilizing MIDI to 
coordinate music and lighting in our contemporary service. I already 
have a second LCX with which to perform my experiments and development.

The possibilities seem endless. And once again, I congratulate you on an 
awesome set of products. Keep up the great work.

    Carey Weathers
    AUMC Technology Committee Chairman