This cue stores the LX cue data and is inserted into the QLab cue list in the usual way. Now we know how QLab outputs to the lighting system, you can imagine that QLab has a new cue-type called Lighting. So, to talk to your dimmers or fixtures you either send ArtNet directly into them or use one of the many boxes (nodes) that turn ArtNet into DMX data and then fire that into the kit. If you know much about lighting control systems, you’ll know that ArtNet is a protocol for sending DMX lighting control signals as network traffic. QLab can now output ArtNet and send it over a network. How does QLab 4 control lighting? (an early pre-releaseas shot) As in audio and video cueing, the standard ‘theatre-stack’ approach to playing back pre-recorded lighting cues is where QLab fits into the world of lighting control.
However, there are plenty of shows that are pre-packaged and cued and this kind of programming and playback is where QLab excels. Here at On Stage Lighting, we have a fair bit of stuff on the really ‘hands-on’ side of lighting e.g Busking and running lighting ‘live’, even though I teach QLab on a regular basis. The practicalities of these techniques do require some level of hardware interface.
#QLAB REVIEW SOFTWARE#
No matter how many tablet apps or PC versions are released, *8 out of 10 lampies say that they would chose a hardware desk over a software solution. Personal computer based lighting control has been, and often still is, considered to be second-best and dedicated hardware lighting controllers are preferred. Lighting control has been culturally different so far. Culturally, the realm of audio and video playback has been firmly in the digital software domain for quite some time. It may now seem obvious that the next development in QLab was to be in field of lighting, the department that thus far only had a limited amount of QLab love. QLab 4 now comes with built-in lighting control right out of the box. We also looked at using the software LX Console and OSC messages to create an ‘in-Mac’ lighting controller package that was cued via QLab. We recently looked at OSC around the time that Cham Sys added it to the MagicQ range. These options all use show control systems such as MSC, MIDI or OSC to fire a compatible lighting desk. We had much fewer options regarding the control of stage lighting systems. Prior to the release of QLab 4, we had many options for audio, video and show control cueing using QLab. It’s worth reflecting on the huge gear change that came with QLab 3, something that left users wondering what the upcoming QLab 4 release could possibly do to match the level of innovation that hit with the release of version 3. The leaps in functionality came in many areas, but video playback and manipulation complemented the other tools in audio and show control. Just when we were all bumbling along happily with QLab 2, version 3 appeared and hit us like a strangely pleasant baseball bat to the face. QLab 2 came with significant developments that made the product seem a lot more complete and ‘finished’. QLab has always enjoyed a high level of user interest in its development, a positive feedback loop that the team at Figure 53 has managed well. What Chris Ashworth and Figure 53 have always given us with QLab is possibility, not only in current incarnations but also scope for the future. Looking back QLab 1 was a functional playback tool for digital media that now seems quite raw. If you have been around for long enough to remember the release of previous QLab versions, you’ll have a handle on the development history. On Stage Lighting looks at the new lighting control capabilities of QLab 4 and considers future developments. So, the much anticipated QLab 4 has arrived and with it a new branch of functionality that may or may not have caught you by surprise.
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