For many years the theatre has been home to ETC lighting consoles, with the latest acquisition being an ETC Ion 1500.
"In fact we purchased two ETC Ion 1500 consoles so I can have one as a back up" says Jon Driver, technical manager for the Cairns Civic Theatre. "I also purchased two 2x20 fader wings and two 19" ELO touch screen panels. I've configured the system so that it runs ArtNet. I have a wireless network which runs the ETC Ion via an iPad. I also run a laptop in client mode on the stage, so I can either control lighting functions off the laptop keyboard or I can plug a USB wing into the laptop for the smaller, one-state shows. Having the ETC client control on stage saves me walking to the control room just to softpatch a dimmer."
Driver continues: "The theatre caters for a variety of lighting operators from local school children using our standard lighting rig to touring technicians with their show on a USB stick. Really the ETC Ion 1500 was exactly what we needed. I like the library personalities and how easy it is to edit/create new personalities. I also like the touch screen panels, the ability to change screen views and layouts, also the amount of accessible information shown on screens and being able to tab between your pages, such as cue list, patch, park, groups live channels and so on."
(Jim Evans)
