Talk:Lighting control console

Over-presence of ETC?

I can't help but notice that ETC seem to have a higher than expected presence on this page particularly, but also on all Wikipedia articles. (ie: Source Four has it's own page, but the Strand SL, Selecon Pacific et al do not). It's particularly noticeable here where there is a link to a non-existant ETC Express page. Are we really going to do a page on every single lighting console? Sounds a bit too specialist to me. Opinions? Bryson430 21:38, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

There was an ETC Express article. An administrator decided it was worthy of deletion on the 21st of this month and deleted it without discussing it on the talk page. I haven't had time to contact anyone about it to see what the reasoning really is and if it'd be possible to get an archive of that article for incorporation into something. --Lekogm 02:01, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

While I agree with what they did, I wouldn't have summarily deleted it! I worry about the actions of Admins on this project that don't understand the specialist nature. Is there an Admin who is a member of the project? Bryson430 02:14, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

Kmccoy is an admin that is a member of this project. And I agree, people don't understand the nature of this project and I think we're lucky to have an admin who will answer questions and come to our aid when needed.. --Lekogm 02:33, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

The Source Four has its own page because it essentially revolutionized conventional fixtures of the theatrical lighting world. The four-filament lamp was brighter, lasted longer, and was just better then anything on the market. ETC had control of the patent of the lamp and therefor no one else could manufacture a fixture that met those specifications. Hence, ETC was the market leader with utilizing the HPL lamp. It is also one of the most heavily used fixtures, and while other companies are gaining a market share, there is no doubt that ETC has the majority. Plus, it just looks so much prettier too! Airbornecasualty 04:45, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

You forgot to mention that the Source4 also had a dichroic glass reflector instead of a metal reflector. This allowed heat (infrared) to escape out the back of the fixture, resulting in a cooler fixture and less heat on stage. Hobadee (talk) 05:26, 21 April 2021 (UTC)

NPOV

My, I'm tetchy today, aren't I? Anyway, stuff like this: "A typical mid range console is the Zero88 FatFrog. The GrandMA and Avolites Diamond 4 are considered by many to be top of the range." is highly debatable. I think we should probably lose all content of this type - what about the Vista, or the Hog 3, or whatever? Since when is the Fatfrog "midrange"? It's all opinion. Bryson430 23:26, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

I agree. A lot of people like strand consoles, but I'm about to bash the 520i with my hammer. --Lekogm 02:03, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

I think it is just giving an example. give another two to go along and it wil be fine. However, there are only 3 brands of all the lighting in my theater so I have no problems citing ETC on everything. I have never heard of a fat frog. We have ETC, colortran, and martin. KeepOnTruckin 03:19, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

Software

I think this list of software has gotten out of hand. It is not encyclopedic, and most links could be classified as spam. I think that the list should be removed and replaced with a paragraph about lighting control software. Any other opinions? -JWGreen 03:54, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Someone finally got rid of that list of links. -JWGreen 04:22, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, I deleted them as they have no place in the article. If someone feels like keeping them I suggest that a List of lighting equipment manufacturers (or something similar) should be created. Bjelleklang - talk Bug Me 20:20, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Strand 300 Series Console.jpg

Image:Strand 300 Series Console.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 06:35, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Fair use rationale has been added. -JWGreen (talk) 18:54, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Older Systems

I have a picture I took of an semi-ancient system at a highschool in Los Angeles. It's a system of locking levers and variacs, probably made long before preset consoles were available. Should a section be added for these antiques?

Here's a link to the image, hosted on my photobucket account;
Old System --Starlite528 (talk) 11:26, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Most certainly!. KeepOnTruckin ^{Complain to me | my work here} 14:45, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

I've seen photos of the old control system at the high school I currently work for. It looks pretty similar to that. That control system dates to 1967 and was HUB electric. Unfortunatly, thats all I know about it. We do have one of the variacs sitting in a cabinet for postarity sake, along with parts from the patch pannel. -JWGreen (talk) 04:38, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

This one has variacs by "Ward Leonard Electric Company." There are also pictures in my gallery showing the houselights control system which is pretty amazing. The old panel isn't/can't be used anymore except for two floor pocket positions. There's a rack of newer Leprecon dimmers tied in next to it.--Starlite528 (talk) 09:38, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for shareing all those photos. I'm not sure what the green lights are besides maybe a parabolic flood... can't imagine there very efficient... and looks like with an FEL, it would burn through gel quickly. I've got a few photos on Wikipedia of the old lighting equipment from the school I work for:

Image:Theatpatchbay.JPG, Image:Theatrheostat.jpg, Image:Catwalk1a.JPG, Image:Catwalk1b.JPG.

I asked in rec.arts.theatre.stagecraft about the green lights a couple of years back. The general response is that they're old century fresnels, maybe using no more than a 400 watt EHR (I didn't realize the label wasn't showing, here's a closeup: Label. I am just now thinking that those might be donated from the photography department, as they have a couple of green colored lamps and boom stands. Those patchbay and catwalk pictures are great. I always like to see stuff like that! I've never had the chance to work with a 'real' patchbay system for lights. The closest thing was at another high school (South hs, in Torrance, CA) where they have an electric and a tiny control booth in the gym. The booth was nothing more than a place to sit overlooking the place, with a dimmer board that looked like it belonged in Dr. Frankensteins lab. Six 12 or so inch long faders that were probably rheostats, and the circuits plugged directly into the back with 'old style' twistlocks. That also reminds me of the electrics on their actual stage; 'old style' twistlocks on stage, 'new style' twistlocks in the AP's. At least they have a modern dimmer rack and board in there. I'm nearly always online, and it's starlite528 on all of the IM's, feel free to contact me any time!--Starlite528 (talk) 07:05, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

I have seen those green lights before! They were at a school that was built in 1960. I never thought to look at the lamp though. They had the 2 prong stage pin connectors. KeepOnTruckin ^{Complain to me | my work here} 23:17, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

I needed one light to cast light on a roof of a building on a set for Oklahoma. The theatre its being produced has a lack of working fixtures (their pile of broken ones if fixed would double their fixture count). The only working fixture left was a beam projector (which is not good for a set light) so I decided to fix a fresnel. After a quick glance at the pile in the closet, I scrapped that idea. I grabed an old electro-controls zoom elipsoidal, put a stage pin on its asbestos insulated leads, blew the dust out with a compressor, and surprise: the lamp is still good! so it hung and circuited. Probably will never be used again, but it worked for what I needed! -JWGreen (talk) 01:13, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

External Links

I removed two manufacturer links from the external links as wp is not advertising any specific brands and therefor there shouldn't be links to only some manufacturers, on the other hand wp is not a list of links...

--Keeper of the Keys (talk) 09:53, 20 April 2009 (UTC)

Lightboard vs. Light board

Which is the proper version? We are using "lightboard" in this article and "light board" in the article for "light board operator", which links to this article as "light board".

-- BugSwat (talk) 00:26, 9 December 2011 (UTC)