Equipment & Control system builds
In film, they mean it when they say “the show must go on.” The programmer’s job is to make it work as quickly as possible with whatever tools are around. For nerds like me, sometimes that means rapid soldering.
Vertical stage cart for The Chi, Season 4. Lenovo all-in-one PC makes for a great touch interface - and much like Hog 3 wings, it is a workhorse with impressive lifespan.
Inside the PixelPack, built to run HolidayCoro Christmas lights for Disney Channel’s Christmas Again. SmartShow NetWS340 drives two universes of pixels with WS2811 or similar protocols. It accepts sACN and ArtNet input, so I power it with a 5V PoE splitter so the pelican can take a single line of ethernet from a PoE switch and - if you’re only running a few 5V pixels, like an Adafruit chip - you can run both driver and pixels from your PoE.
The silliest 64 universe build I ever built. The Hog 4 HPU in a 4U SKB rack case with UPS & data distro, and a keyboard, mouse, and 12” monitor in the lid. I pray no job needs all this power in this small of a form factor. For the programmer’s sake.
12V PoE Splitter allows a single ethernet line from a PoE switch to carry sACN and power to the LumenRadio TX2 while also powering the Noctua case fan. A dust filter is installed on the outside of the case so the fan is (relatively) protected from the environment.
Data distro prototyping part 2: quick pelican node+switch installation. A little cable wrangling and it’ll be ready to rock!
Messy, but effective - the prototype data distro assembly on Fargo. This simple stack of Cisco PoE switch, ETC 4-universe node, and 2x Ethercon couplers was assembled as a test for the show. Switch sends power+data to the LumenRadio Nova 2 TX, wifi access points, and DMX gateways.
The Chi, Season 4 required several lighting gags synchronized with video playback. Laptop tray on the cart lets me process media in DaVinci Resolve to load into the Hog4PC’s internal media server.
Look out folks, he’s got an MA2 wing too!
Dual console on-location cart build. Magliner Mini with the “Razorback” Hoglet + Tablet PC pelican on top, 8U rack below with RackHog, Cisco PoE switch, 8 universe gateway, and UPS. I built a keyboard tray into the top shelf of the cart with a KVM switch so the keyboard, mouse, and add’l monitor can quickly switch between RackHog and Hog4PC in case one console crashes.
Keep it safe! Indoor gunfire + pandemic = all the PPE.
The “AirHog 4” - the same tablet computer that runs the “Razorback” Hoglet case can run as an all-in-one super tablet for splinter units or easy days. 2 universes of DMX output with an ETC Gadget 2 and a Nomad dongle - works just fine for Hog and ETC. With hot-swappable batteries, a kickstand, and an Astera transmitter dual-locked to the back, it’s not a bad rig for an easy day on location! Pictured handling the easy last day as dimmer op on Fargo Season 4.
First iteration of the “Razorback” Hoglet console case. Built to be opened and operated, with a Hoglet 4 wing, a Dell Latitude tablet PC in a Havis dock, a 2-universe LumenRadio Nova transmitter, and a SmallHD 702 OLED monitor. All power and networking is hidden below the Hoglet, and power, networking, and antenna ports are built into the walls of the case.
“Razorback 4” Case on my vertical Magliner cart. Midi keyboard was added for this job as an additional bank of playbacks, triggering lights-passing gags outside a vehicle.
The Chi Season 3 Control Booth was even more cramped before the second board moved to the other stage! Joe Kosty on the right, 2nd unit board op and all-around wonderful person. This was on our first double-up day with both units on the stage, so Joe and I got comfy while we worked out the kinks of our first multi-console workflow.
First day I tried out the AirHog. It’s heavy for a tablet, but light for a console!
The tiny lighting control center of The Chi, Season 3. Entire workstation and rack for two 60’x185’ stages needed to fit in a 3’x8’ alcove. Including the programmer. The RackHog and DP8000 in this rack ran the show, and each stage had a HedgeHog console for programming.