Almost Like New

This week I learned about a new perk of working on a digital console: the software upgrade. It’s almost like getting a new console. Last week, Digidesign announced version 2.0 of the D-show software for the Venue with some great new features. I downloaded their standalone software this week to play with while waiting for the upgrade to come, and there are some cool new features I’m definitely going to take advantage of.

One of the many things that comes to mind is the new ability to take the console offline to work/check snapshots. This will come in very handy during rehearsals. There are often times when someone on stage will need a microphone to communicate to the tech people in the booth along with the folks in the auditorium so a headset doesn’t work. While that person is running some cues, I can take the console offline to continue programming the morning service. Brilliant. This will also come in handy after rehearsal when we start feeding the walk-in music to the lobby, and I want to step through all of my cues to make sure everything is muting and un-muting at the proper spots.

There are a bunch of other features I’m going to use, too. After six months on the desk, it just got even better. I’m starting to get the feeling that there are going to be some big cost savings over time by us going digital over analog simply from the new features Digi is constantly going to be adding coupled with the ease of installing plug-ins. There is nothing like having a product you’re completely satisfied with that keeps getting better.

This week sort of starts the big push until the end of our season–everything slows down in the summer and then ramps back up in the fall. Despite the fact that we’re going to be ramping up, I’m hopefully going to start blogging more often again especially as we near the completion of our new children’s theatre. The soft launch for that is Memorial Day weekend with the grand opening a month after that.

I think I’m also ready to go “public” with our new auditorium system. After six months, I think we’re 99% there. So if you’re ever in the Chicago area and would like a facilities tour, drop me a note.