REVIEW Automated Lighting Programmer’s Handook

4th Ed. by Brad Schiller.

Words: Paul Middleton

Brad Schiller is a self-confessed Lighting Geek, who has over 30 years experience as a lighting programmer. He has worked for a number of high profile industry companies alongside his authoring, instructing and consultancy work. He currently works as Senior Business Development Manager for Martin by Harman in the US, but I first met him when I organised the LED shootout at Earls Court in 2011 when he was working for Barco. His “formative years” were spent at High End Systems and Flying Pig Systems.

I already have two, of the three, previous editions of his Automated Lighting Programmers Book and looking back to the first edition from 2011 it shows that the equipment to control automated lighting, and the lights themselves have evolved considerably over that time. Recent introductions to the book include GDTF (General Device Type Format) which is a file format intended to define the properties of a lighting fixture in a format that lighting desks can universally understand, thus making it easier for desk programmers to get the best out of each fixture. Alongside that is the growth of fixtures with multiple elements, which can often use up a complete universe for a single fixture.

So is this a book worth buying? If you are new to desk programming then this will provide a great starting point of the techniques you need to understand if you are intending to make a career as a Programmer. There are other books that cover some similar ground, and you will ultimately find that the basic concepts of most consoles are pretty similar– they just have differing levels of features, and cost. So having a road map to the skills you need to know is a great asset and this book provides that. There will probably be few local libraries that will stock it, so buying a physical copy in hardback or paperback or getting the Kindle version are lilely to be your only choices.

If you are new to the industry then the hardest fact is that few people want to share their knowledge, for fear that you will do them out of a job and whilst many college courses include some form of console training, there is a shortage of really skilled programmers, who also have the magical skill of being a good teacher. The layout of the book has evolved with each version and includes some sections you may not have actively thought about, but with events at various venues such as the Ariana Grande concert in the UK, and the Bataclan theatre in Paris, it is very worthwhile having some plans for dealing with emergency situations.

Very recently I had an experience where a venue refused to unlock an Exit that was clearly marked as a Fire Exit, because they had no staff to monitor that exit, and didn’t want to take the risk of people sneaking in through it! I had to make sure that the cast, knew about the situation and had alternative exit routes and lighting to the route.

The glossary at the end is a very useful and shows that at least in the entertainment world, programmers speak the same language and use the same terms regardless of whether they are English, or American!

As my personal background is from mainly a theatrical background I’ve never had to worry about busking many shows, so I was hoping there might be a detailed section of advice

find the options to purchase: The Automated Lighting Programmer’s Handbook, 4th Edition

ISBN 9780367653255

Published November 30, 2021 by Routledge or examples on creating Busking setups, but there wasn’t so I’ll just have to carry on looking on YouTube, for useful (and not so useful) tutorials. Brad’s Appendices looking back at 20 years since the Syndney Olympics and his chat with Broadway Lighting Programmer Scott K. Tusing are great. When I see a picture of someone else with 6 extra monitors and a laptop, as well as the dual screens of the main desk, I know I’m not the odd one out!

I will quote from one section of the book “... when I wrote the frst edition of this book, I did not include any specifc information about LED lighting, as it was not prevalent in our industry at the time. Then in the second edition I created a chapter specifcally addressing the “new” concepts that were unique to programming LED luminaries. By the third edition, I eliminated the LED chapter, as LED lights had become a standard part of our portfolio of fixtures. I merged the previous data into the relevant chapters to ensure that none of the essential information was lost. It is truly amazing how quickly LED technology became a standard part of lighting and programming. Now at the time of the fourth edition, it seems that nearly all modern automated and conventional lighting products are LED based.” from 2,400 - 8,500K

I only get to program occasionally nowadays, as lockdown led me to other work in the virtual world, but as we return to normality (at least in the UK) there is going to be a big need for new people to replace those, who for whatever reason, have left the industry and this book will give good guidance to get you started.

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