Essential for anyone who uses ETC consoles

My first experience with ETC was with their Element console in a theatre that I work at (previously I was a Zero88 guy), and after hiring one of these for a very small show for far too much, and seeing the student discount I knew I was going to pick one of these up.



The advertised use is to use your laptop as a full console to drive shows with 2 DMX 512 universes of fixture addresses. Although I have never got close to the 512 fixture limit on this licence key, the software has been very stable and responsive when run on both my 2011 ThinkPad ultraportable running Windows 10 and a MacBook Air. I would have no concerns using this for a show in terms of reliability.



The ETC Nomad software can be started in two personalities to match either the Element console or the Ion, depending on what you are most used to or what other consoles you want to be able to connect to over the network. I generally stick to Ion mode just for the additional features. You can also save show files from a real console to a USB drive and transfer them to your laptop and back again which is very handy, especially combined with a good magic sheet. Probably my favourite use of this kit is to remote control the main console using client mode over the network when programming, building a magic sheet or focussing the rig. Although it isn't officially able to work over WiFi, as long as you have a fast AP (I use it with Wireless N networks without too much trouble), you can work that way which allows you to walk around the rig or work from downstairs which is very handy at times, although if the connection starts to struggle Nomad will freeze up for a few seconds while it syncs again. You can also use the kit to set up your laptop as a backup console which is a far cheaper way to achieve that than having two consoles!



I wouldn't generally want to program a full show on Nomad however, as without the fader wing (£1.2k) it is very tedious typing the values in. May be better if I had a touchscreen laptop and could then use the virtual faders. Saying that, EOS has fantastic support for OSC control messages, so if you can find an interface that can send out OSC messages you could use that as your fader wing (I have been working on a half-baked way to use an Arduino as a fader wing, source code here if you'd like to have a go - rphi.github.io/WingMan)



So to wrap up, very worth having in your arsenal, not only as a known programmable console when you get asked to tech a show in a random tiny venue which only has a Zero88 Juggler, but also the remote control functionality is very helpful. Even if you don't use it all the time, I've hired it out to shows that other people are working on so it's already started to pay for itself. Buy it now while you still get student discount!