Need help visualizing

All,

I do lighting for fun / hobby. I used to doing lighting for rock band up and down the east coast in the late seventies and early eighties. Mostly club circuit but the band did open for groups like Daryl Hall and John Oates, Toto, Dixie Dregs, Beach Boys, Joan Jett, Steppenwolf, Kansas, and a few others. I got the opportunity to run several large boards back then, but pretty much everything was analog.

I got to meet Alan Owen several times when Varilites first hit the road and was fascinated with the technology ever since. About a year ago, I decided to sell some other toys (you know - men and their toys) before I killed myself (dirt bikes & ATVs) and buy some lighting equipment so I could experiment.

I am using HOG 3PC with a physical playback wing, two 15" ELO touch screens, one 19" LCD, and the HOG keyboard. For lights I have 4 Morpheus Faderbeams, 18 Morpheus Color Rangers, and 2 Coemar Pro Wash LX250. I have 24 desk channels with 16 @ 2.4k capacity and 8 @ 1.2k capacity. I have a friend in the business who lets me use his Par cans for the Rangers and I have several specials (ACLs and audience blinders) as well.

I pretty much put the system together so that I could put on a nice show when the band I used to work with 25 years ago gets together and plays a show. My delima is that I only get to hook everything up once in a blue moon when an opportunity arises.

Are there any inexpensive visualization programs out there that can take the output of the HOG 3PC and display on a screen what the cue would look like? I need something to help me work on my programming skills with the HOG.

Thanks,
Ross
  • 0
    Hey Ross...

    Not sure what you may consider "inexspensive", but I use ESP Vision which in my opinion is the best visulizer on the market. It's not cheap though....a single universe will cost you $750. Plus you'll need a CAD program like Vectorworks or 3DMax to build the show to export to Vision and of course that's an extra charge for that software. But, you know as the saying goes you definately get what you pay for.

    Take a peek at the Vision web site for a test drive.
    www.espvision.com

    Hope this helps
  • 0
    Thanks Calvin.

    I understand about the get what you pay for -etc. I only wish they would allow me to get a student version - because that is what I feel like.


    for the cad programs - any recommendations? Would autocad work?

    Thanks,
    Ross
  • 0
    Hi Ross,

    Other programs include 'WYSIWYG' and Martin's 'ShowDesigner', though I don't have much experience of these.

    I use 'Capture' which is really easy to use and get the hang of. Doesn't use too much processing power either. Simulation is good and it has its own CAD. Check it out at www.capturesweden.com There is a fully functioning demo that you can download (and comes complete with a couple of demo theatres) - the only thing it won't do is allow you to save any changes. The basic version is much cheaper than most of the other programs.

    Cheers,

    Rob
  • 0
    Ross

    Yeah...I know what you mean about price.....:Eyecrazy:

    I kinda wish I was back in shcool to get the student discount on software. But you know what, I don't recall having money to buy anythnig over a couple buck, let alone a few HUNDRED.

    I don't belive AUTOCAD works with Vision but use Vectorworks to do all of my drawings.
  • 0
    Ross, both Vectorworks & ESP Vision have student priced versions. The VW version is considerably less than the retail price and the Vision price is reduced as well. Give them both a call or check out their websites -- although I don't think the Vision web site has anything about their student pricing.

    I use both tools and can attest to their richness. VW may be a little slow to get started on if you have not used any other CAD programs before. That is probably true of many of the more advanced one that support 3D looks well.

    --
    Kevin Montagne
    kevin (at) litkam (dot) com
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