Yesterday was the beginning of the end of another chapter in the Swami’s life. At 5:15, I went to FedEx to drop off a package that represents two and a half years of work. It was the manuscript that will soon be my new book called “Automated Lighting: The Art and Science of Moving Light.” It will be published on Focal Press around June of this year.
I’ve been working on this book since May or June of 2003. Having been in the lighting business since just after the release of the Vari-Lite VL1 and having worked for two automated lighting manufacturers over the span of 15 years, I felt minimally qualified to tackle the subject. But researching it and writing about it taught me more in 2.5 years than I learned in the previous 15 years. A big part of the learning process, I should say, was undertaking lighting design jobs and programming gigs, getting hands-on time, visiting various factories, attending trade shows and talking to dozens and dozens of lighting industry veterans. The book covers everything about automated lighting including history, DC and AC electricity, electronics, digital electronics, mechanics, electro-mechanics, optics, materials, communication (DMX512, DMX512-A, RDM and ACN), programming, digital lighting and more. It also includes a section on the use of automated lighting as well as the future of the technology.
What I learned that I didn’t already know could fill another book. But the essence is this:
- We owe more to the pioneers of theatrical lighting than I previously thought. People have had the idea to motorized or mechanize lights for almost a hundred years.
- Automated lighting technology is advancing even more rapidly than I had previously thought. We are benefiting from computer technology, which is making strides in speed, cost, size, power and memory storage. This translates to better, smaller, lighter, and faster fixtures and more powerful controllers.
- Digital lighting is having an even bigger impact than I had previously thought. Once you start scrutinizing the current technology, I think you’ll find that it is completely changing the face of the industry.
- Automated lighting will have an even bigger future in our industry than I previously thought. Media servers use primarily the same syntax as automated lighting and the automated lighting programmers of today will be the digital lighting programmers of tomorrow. Digital luminaires are nothing more than a specialized automated luminaire, albeit one with lots of attributes, but it’s an automated luminaire nonetheless.
I have already begun thinking about the next book, tentatively titled “Digital Lighting: The Art and Science of Moving Pixels.” I think I like that.
