ETC EOS
I must admit: I am a lighting nerd and I love ETC (Electronic Theatre Controls) EOS. It will allow me to do designs that I have in my head and it will allow me to make them real. I love that idea. ETC has been around for 50+ years, so they know what they are doing. I was trained on the ETC Express 48/96. It is an old console that is still good today. It is a console that can perform anything that you ask it to do. One thing that I love about it is that it does not run any type of operating system. Instead, an Intel i960 a microprocessor from the early 90s is the processor and OS.
My experience with the Express is an interesting story. A company that I worked for had one, that was a great console it did everything that it needed to do. It was a lot of fun to drive, the clickety keys were satisfying to type on. Everything is within reach of the entire console. Record, cue, and all the numbers were in reach. The issue that I had with it was to put my hand when programming on the console.
I love that console. It served them for a good 17 years. Sadly, the battery that keeps the sub-master, cues, and patching died and that is when the process of getting the ETC Ion XE 20 was started. I love it even more. It is a smart small console that can do everything that I want it to do and I am not even touching the capability of the system. One thing that ETC did was take the software on their consoles and port it over to the computer, both MacOS and Windows. I waste a lot of time on the software (and Stardew Valley). One thing that I am always doing is creating designs for myself and seeing what I can do in an augmented model. I love creating designs and seeing how things can be built. Sadly the rig that I use is not installed in the current system. However, one thing that you can do is to take any augment/setup/patch and send it over to a console that will attach it and push it to a rig either through DMX or SCAN/ArtNet so the ability to do it live is there.
I know who ETC is, I know how they move, how they dance, and how they will behave through everything. All of their stuff is made to last. I have seen Expresses in use everywhere. Most of them are not built for modern-day stuff as that is what the EOS series is for (the Element 2, Ion Xe, Gio, and the Apex). They have been making EOS consoles for 18+ years. They can do everything and they are still being developed. I love ETC and I recommend them to anyone interested in lighting design.
I have had to get a hold of their tech support many times and every single time that I have they are amazing. They understand that things happen and all the agents that I had worked with were helpful and understanding. They apologized for not knowing something but they found the answer. There are a few things that am not a fan of on the consoles, one of them is the boot time. It can take a while for them to start up and get into EOS. I know that they are built to last and long boot times are going to be a part of it. The syntax can be a bit strange but that is something that I am trying to figure out. If I can’t get something figured out then the internet has found the answer and will give you the needed syntax, or teach you something new. ETC has also pushed out a set of lessons that you can take that will show you how to use the console. One time I was teaching a friend how to use EOS and I took after their class to show her how to use it. It makes things a lot simpler. Patching charts, labels, and everything that is in between to keep you organized. It is something that you can use no matter what you want to do with it. It is nice to sit down and create things that I can’t create in the real world, and allow my mind to wander around for a while.
If you are interested in checking out what I have done on it, you can find the ones that I am proud of at:
I have done shows from Face Vocal Band, Dear Even Hansen, and other shows that I have created for a project because I was bored (a normal thing for me)
If you are looking for a program that will allow you to do anything check ETC EOS downloadable at