Intro
Moving Lights can be difficult to control, confusing. Some light boards tout themselves as ML or Moving Light light boards, because they’re so easy to use. They abstract the technical jargon and speak a language that is easy to understand.
But why can this become so difficult?
Well, first, DMX is just a set of numbers. I send an LED 75%, the fixture interprets that as the color aqua-marine. But how am I supposed to remember that value? Or maybe I send a moving light 0%, it spins itself back to the motor’s home position. These lights work with seemingly arbitrary numbers. I don’t. I use words. I use colors. I just want to paint the stage with light.
Or consider this, if you don’t want to see moving lights move or color changers change, when should these parameters fade? Should they wait until after the previous cue? Do they need to move really quickly before the light fades up? What should they do after they’re finished being used?
Back in the day we used to manage that in our heads, creating extra cues to handle all these changes. A good, modern light board will simplify these issues, manage these lights, and solve problems I didn’t even realize existed.
So, here’s how the EOS family handles intelligent lights.