I may be the last guy to own an iPhone. Ten years ago, I abandoned my Blackberry. I received over 100 emails per day and was getting nothing done, work-wise, as I constantly stopped what I was doing to answer the silly chirp. I was going blind reading the small font with my far-sighted vision. Then I almost killed my son and myself answering emails while driving. So I made a conscientious decision to chuck the phone. I check my email on my computer every couple of hours and speed through the replies. I returned to a stupid phone. The advent of all the apps and things one could do nowadays with a smart phone almost made me regret this move — especially since my 17-inch MacBook Pro is not easy to manipulate on planes or carry around while working. But then the iPad came along. At first I was hesitant, but it didn’t take me long to start using it for work as well as play.
A couple of years ago, I went to a coffee shop to meld minds with a fellow designer. He and I both had done many shows and had collections of photos and design concepts on our computers. I cracked open my laptop and turned it so he could see my ideas. Then he simply reached in the pocket of his winter coat and pulled out his iPad. He had transferred all his work pics to this mobile device. I realized then that while the iPad was only a few weeks old, I was already behind the times.
A Useful Device
I also realized that I did not need an iPhone. I could Skype my family, read a book, surf when bored, etc., with an iPad. But, work-wise, I never envisioned all the other stuff I could be using this device for.
Most of my apps are free or under $5 to download. For my first choice of an app, I jumped on the bandwagon and figured it would be really cool to use the grandMA remote app. It took me a little while, but we figured out how I could run the console via the app. Of course, I wasn’t going to actually run the show from any device, but what I really wanted to do was walk on stage and focus moving lights by myself. I could also turn on dimmers from my device so I didn’t have to shout out commands to anyone in the dimmers, at the console, or to a stagehand I may be using as a focus dummy. This worked great for about two days. That’s when I realized whenever I left the stage area (to go to lunch), I would lose my Wi-Fi connection with the console, which, in turn, would crash the desk. When that happened, I would not only lose any info I had just recorded, it trashed the show file I had loaded in to the desk. I had to be careful to turn off the remote app on my device before it lost contact with the desk.
Last year, I had a lone laser tech on a tour. He would run his controller while the tour rigger went up on the truss to physically focus all the mirrors that the laser beams would bounce off of. The beams would often miss their marks, and I questioned him on this one day. He said it would be much better if he could just focus the mirrors himself. I offered to help him by running his computer while he focused. But he asked me to wait a day while he worked on another idea. The next day, I saw him go up and focus his own mirrors, with nobody at his console. He had been waiting for an app to work that would enable him to trigger his cues from his phone, while he climbed.
Apps Galore
After that, I was curious to see how other apps could help me in the lighting biz. There were certain programs I had on my Mac already. Programs that could figure out the binary code to any DMX address. Ones that could figure out the beam spread and amount of foot-candles I could get out of a 26° Leko from a 30-foot trim. But I wanted a photometric chart at my fingertips. I found BeamCalc for that.
I had a new lighting fixture I wanted to try out. But the fixture library in my console was incorrect, and I could not strike the lamp. I went online and I found the true DMX (0-255) values for this fixture’s commands. I would need to set the control encoder wheel to a specified value of 165 in order for this fixture to strike its lamp. Of course, my console only recognizes values between 0 and 100 percent. So I utilized the DMXCalc app to transpose all these DMX values to the proper percentages for me to write palettes on my desk. This app allows techs to quickly re-address the binary switches on Atomic Strobes that have been bumped by accident.
I now find myself drawing CAD designs on my Mac while my iPad sits next to me. Sure, I can open multiple programs on my laptop screen, but it’s easier for me to hand the iPad to a tech next to me and ask him to look up the proper gel number for the color Smoky Pink. And then figure out where we can get that, and some MAC 2K wash fixtures, for a show next week. He looks at me like I’m insane. He offers to go on Facebook and see if any of his friends know a lighting company near Boise. I tell him not to bother. I pull out my favorite app.
Genielux is my new favorite tool. It has an updated list of the majority of gear that most lighting vendors carry. The user simply types in their current location and they can then scroll through a list of fixtures on the program. Say you are looking to rent 35 Atomic strobes. The app will tell you who the closest vendor (who rents these) to your location is. They won’t tell you if they are in stock, but it sure beats any alternatives. Years ago, I had to sift through pages of a printed guide to find some truss in North Carolina. What seemed like an easy task at first soon occupied my entire morning. I found this app when a client requested a ceiling of star strobes for a hotel job. I figured I would need to rent them from a few companies and it would be a logistics nightmare to get the correct ones back to the right company after the gig. But, lo and behold, I found someone who owned over 500 of these things, and they were only 200 miles away.
Last but not least, some gaffing buddies of mine have turned their iPhones into something spectacular. They are starting to use them as light meters. The folks behind the SeaChanger (Ocean Thin Films) have come up with an app called the Color Bug. It enables the iPhone to accurately measure color temperature and foot-candles.
