In today’s rapidly changing landscape of labels for lighting and video technicians, there are two terms emerging in our industry that I find fit many of us to a T: the Solutionist and the Technologist. And while they overlap a lot, both have great impact on the creation, planning, and execution of a complex event that involves the integration of multiple technically complex products into one cohesive system. Let’s take a closer look at these two roles. Who knows, maybe you’re already one, and didn’t realize this is a thing!
Solutionist
The role of “solutionist” has evolved from the need for sales staff to have a thorough understanding of the product they are representing to be able to provide solutions to clients when a client approaches them with their ideas. A Solutionist, or as the longer title, “Technical Solutions Expert,” suggests, understands the creative aspect of the concept as well as possesses a broad enough base of knowledge of a wide assortment of equipment that could be utilized to bring that concept to life. And the Solutionist also has to be really good at working with the client and managing their expectations as well. They aren’t necessarily the ones that will build the system, but they are the ones to help put the spec together for the system to be built.
Technologist
Many likely feel that Solutionists are Technologists, and vice versa. And in some cases, they are absolutely right. I like to separate these two roles in my mind a bit more though, and the reason I do that is because I think a Technologist is a lot like a scientist and an explorer all wrapped up in one. They possess an amazing amount of technical knowledge, expertise, and intelligence and are able to connect all kinds of equipment together that on the surface would not appear to be compatible. Technologists are like technical wizards, yet many of them prefer to remain out of the limelight as if to say, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” They are always three steps ahead of the majority, driving technology in new directions and expanding the boundaries of what is already capable. Given the right set of tools, technologists can work out how to control anything and everything and may ultimately end up with multiple ways to trigger your coffee pot via your cell phone when all you asked for is setting the timer on the base.
Evolving Skill Sets
As our world of entertainment technology continues to evolve, merge, and generate new possibilities, so do the skill sets required to make all that gear connect and work together to produce that next amazing show for that client who wants the impossible.
Some of the skill sets that are becoming more commonplace for the Technologist to have are:
- Networking. (This is no longer just a suggestion but has become a requirement because without a solid understanding of how computers network together, most of the rest of these skill sets are impossible to master.)
- Knowledge of a variety of network protocols, including:
- o Art-Net and sACN
- o Telnet
- o NDI
- o Dante
Integration of stage automation systems with video and lighting, such as:
- o PSN
- o Tait Navigator
- o Kinesys
Content creation skills and creating UV maps for video projection mapping using programs such as:
- o Blender
- o Cinema4D
Creating real-time generative content and effects using programs such as:
- o Notch
- o Unreal
- o Unity
Control protocols, such as:
- o MIDI
- o MSC
- o OSC
- o DMX
Real-time tracking systems, such as:
- o BlackTrax
- o MoCap
- o Leap Motion
- o Kinect
VR systems integration tools, such as:
- o SteamVR
- o HTC Vive
- o Oculus Rift
Projectionist skills for complex projection projects:
- o Mapping Matters
- o OmniCal
Integrating Lighting and Video into combined control systems, including:
- o Pixel Mapping
- o Pre-visualization
- o DMX control of a media server
Programming these types of elements in media servers, including:
- o disguise
- o Avolites AI
- o Hippotizer
Controlling video switchers, projectors and LED processors, such as
- o Lightware
- o Barco
- o Brompton Technologies
Programming script languages, such as:
- o Python
- o Lua
Video Resolutions, Color Depth, Codecs and encoding software
- o Adobe Media Encouder
As you can see, this is a very broad list and includes a lot of different type of gear, software, and general knowledge; and the role of technologist involves having a basic understanding of the majority of these (and more) skills.
You may be thinking, “How in the world do you learn all of this?” Well, the reality is, a lot of these skills are, for the most part, gained from years of working on a variety of projects and through simple trial and error. As we know, technicians usually begin in our business as specialists in a particular discipline (lighting, audio, video); technologists are no exception and likely began in one aspect of the industry. In fact, it’s very common for a technologist to have begun as a lighting programmer, a media server programmer, or a content creator with a very strong computer networking background. These folks often find themselves involved in bringing all of the elements together simply because they continuously work on different projects and are always absorbing the knowledge of how all the pieces work together. And, over the years, as the client’s demands for bigger and better have increased, they have begun to cross over into other areas of technology, blurring the lines between lighting, audio, and video and systems’ engineers and technicians.
As the trend in our industry continues to move toward creating interactive and immersive environments, the demand for technically minded people continues to grow. I believe we are seeing the emergence of these two new roles, the Solutionist and the Technologist, as a result. The client with the really cool concept is at the mercy others who understand the software and hardware needed for the project and who possess the creativity to bring grandiose ideas to reality; in other words, without the technical creativity of the Solutionist and the technical intelligence of the Technologist, a client’s vision is just a concept. And as technology continues to evolve, more of these special breeds of technical wizards will be needed in order to meet the increasing demand. The question then is, are you ready to be a technical wizard?
