London-based d3 Technologies, creator of the trusted d3 platform, the integrated video production suite, has chosen an MA onPC command wing purely for the purpose of trying and testing new developments in d3. As director Ash Nehru explains: "Although d3 supports control by any of the lighting desks on the market, we opted for the grandMA2 command wing through Ambersphere Solutions for a very simple reason: it is the desk of choice for so many. It's the console that we encounter most frequently on large shows so it just made total sense for us to support it."
Currently d3 are using the grandMA2 command wing to test a new feature. "d3 has historically been a timeline-controlled system; last year we added a feature called 'SockPuppet DMX' that allows d3 to be controlled from a lighting desk. This allows operators to use existing lighting desks to access the power and flexibility of d3 while retaining a familiar programming workflow.
"We use the command wing in our testing lab," continues Nehru, "to send Art-Net to d3 to make sure that each new release behaves correctly and that the user interface conforms to our standards. As new feature requests come in from users, we also use the wing to look at alternative workflows. The objective of choosing the grandMA2 command wing is to validate the programming experience that grandMA2 users expect from a media server."
Although the MA onPC command wing at d3 is not subject to the rigours of a touring life, Nehru is happy to have the back-up available from Ambersphere as he comments, "Ambersphere has consistently gone out of their way to help and support d3 - we look forward to a long and fruitful relationship."
(Jim Evans)
