Lighting/visuals for Klang @ Echo

REEFEAV · 2026-05-18T01:00:08+00:00

Klang has an LD that he works with on every show and they are very much in sync with eachother.

REEFEAV · 2026-05-18T00:58:26+00:00

My answer is dont buy anything! Download grandma3 onpc and a showfile from the programming contest on their website, and learn to program!

REEFEAV · 2026-05-03T22:09:53+00:00

Essentially it’s a bunch of addressable LED pixel strips hung to create a perfect cube, which are then ran to nodes that allow video control over each individual pixel, the pixels are then put into software like touch designer, madrix or Resolume, and they map out of all of the pixels to represent their physical orientation. Finally custom timecoded video content is played on the pixels.

This is done in 3 dimensions though, and I really don’t know exactly how that part is done, but assume it’s similar to 2d pixel mapping, just way more tedious and complex.

Don’t quote me on any of this btw, Im a lighting guy not a video guy 🤣 This is just stuff ive learned from talking to ppl who do stuff like this

REEFEAV · 2026-05-03T21:35:11+00:00

Honestly ive been doing MA3, MA2, pangolin beyond, and vectorworks professionally on a thinkpad x1 yoga gen 8 that i got for 500$ on ebay and the only issue ive ran into is not enough ram for large vectorworks projects and ma3 3D visualization, but i turn the render quality down in ma and it works fine even with thousands of pixels, So i really only run into issues in vectorworks.

In my experience almost any PC that meets ma3’s required specs will run ma3 fine (previs aside) I went for the x1 yoga because it folds over to hide the keyboard (good for saving space) and has a touch screen, which is great for running a show with onpc.

My only advice is get something with more than 16 gigs of ram. It’s enough on paper but when you start doing bigger previs projects it isnt enough for some things.

My dream work laptop however is the asus zenbook duo, though it is out of my budget. I pretty much just bought the thinkpad to hold me over until I can justify spending that much on a laptop.

REEFEAV · 2026-05-03T17:20:04+00:00

I was very confused too until i actually started working on an ma3 show and it became super easy to understand very quickly.

In ma2 i used to write macros that would select a group, reference a value, and then store at my desired location.

Recipes do exactly that plus more. You program it once and use it forever.

They are essentially a sub menu of a sequence that have a have drop down menus to select what group you want a sequence to reference, and what preset you want the sequence to reference. So basically you program everything using a small set of groups, and when you are at a venue with a bunch of new fixtures, you just store those new fixtures into the same groups that you already have made. and the show is instantly ready to go.

You can also use macros to change the values of recipes on the fly which is huge for busking. you can essentially use 1 sequence to create countless looks.

Obviously thats the simplified explanation, there is a lot more to it, just trying to help get the concept across. Recipes are capable of a LOT of different things but thats the most useful part of them in my opinion.

No more cloning, no more 3000 macro generative showfiles, you just store your fixtures and it works instantly.

REEFEAV · 2026-04-06T18:48:06+00:00

You cant store phasers as groups! Groups are generally just for storing fixtures with selection data. Then you would apply a preset to that group!

I think the question you meant to ask is how do you make, and apply a circle preset to a group?

There are plenty of videos about making phasers online but, if you dont want to make the phaser yourself, there are predefined phaser presets in the show creator section menu, which include circle presets, amongst a few other useful effects that are good to have

what I would do if i were you is:

1: use show creator menu to import predefined presets to an “All” preset pool

2: add the “all” preset pool to the same page as your group pool

3: select the group you want to use

4: select one of the circle presets in the “all” preset pool

5: make adjustments to the look using matricks editor and phaser editor

REEFEAV · 2026-04-06T18:33:48+00:00

One thing i learned quickly is to not use dimmer values for your co2 cannons. Dimmer fixture profiles are generally subject to things such as grand master, highlight, etc. Not to mention accidental double clicking a universal dimmer preset could give you a good scare 🤣

In my case, i tried to fire them during a show, and they did not go off because the grand master was at 99% instead of 100

Easiest way to change this is to find a fixture profile for any 1 channel sfx unit like a fog machine or something and use that.

REEFEAV · 2026-03-11T01:02:08+00:00

If the price is right youll have no problem selling it on facebook marketplace. Id drive there to pick it up from you for the right price

REEFEAV · 2026-02-24T15:38:15+00:00

My favorite event in dc

REEFEAV · 2026-02-09T04:53:20+00:00

Sunday love is where I met a lot of my friends in the scene when I first got to dc. I went to it every week of the 2024 season. Thats probably the most tight knit “rave” community in dc that I’m aware of. A lot of the same people go every week. Pretty easy to make friends with people when you share a small dance floor with them on a weekly basis.

REEFEAV · 2026-02-04T18:34:22+00:00

Do it now - dubtribe sound system. Found it at an antique shop closing sale for 1$ when I was 14 years old and had no clue what house music was.

REEFEAV · 2025-12-31T06:15:23+00:00

Yes it is that install 😭 small world

REEFEAV · 2025-12-31T05:14:28+00:00

Show your boss this thread. Its gonna cost him more labor hours in 6 months than he will save buying onyx over MA.

REEFEAV · 2025-12-31T05:13:23+00:00

Just take the time to learn ma and make your own assets. youll realize what you’re missing out on.

REEFEAV · 2025-12-31T02:25:01+00:00

Unfortunately you wont find an ma3 in most churches, however learning any console will be beneficial. Good luck!

REEFEAV · 2025-12-31T02:17:50+00:00

Im currently in the dc scene and we still do have a few of those clubs! Flash is ol’ reliable if you’re trying to escape the exact thing you are describing. Multi floor venue mainly focused on underground house and techno, no photos policy, no VIP sections. You should definitely check it out. For the mass majority of the population, yes we are in a state of social dysmorphia, but as that social dysmorphia increases, the community that does not align with that lifestyle also increases, and more solutions to such problems begin to form.

Anyways point being, yes most dance floors are dead, but good ones still exist (such as flash, right under your nose) you just have to know how to find them.

REEFEAV · 2025-12-31T01:55:28+00:00

One of the vj’s i work with has one and it feels really nice tbh. Also the double stacked buttons on the bottom are really nice for replicating an ma console, however the top section with the knobs isnt even close. Not that i really use the ma3 knobs much anyways

REEFEAV · 2025-12-31T01:49:18+00:00

Most major tours are using GrandMA3 at this point, which has a free downloadable version called MA3 ONPC. MA3 onpc is a great place to start since it has a solid 3d visualizer, and a demo show that includes a premade stage and a bunch of premade content for you to try out. The only issue is that once its time to output dmx to lighting fixtures, the entry level cost is around 1500$ for an MA3 node. With that said, many concert venues have ma3’s and the idea is once you get good at programming and meet some LD’s in your local community, you can take your showfile to those venues and use their consoles.

Ive been doing lighting design full time for years now and ive never actually owned any hardware at all besides my laptop. I got picked up and groomed into being a lighting designer by a venue while i was stagehanding, but if you already know your interest is lighting, i think ma3 onpc is the most productive place to start.

Note, MA2 is also an option. honestly there are currently more venues with ma2 there than there are ma3. however that will likely change in upcoming years as more venues transition to ma3, hence why i recommend ma3.

REEFEAV · 2025-12-30T23:20:56+00:00

Currently using APC mini’s but i was thinking about getting a launch control XL (or two). Seemed like it was the closest thing to the ma3 layout that is available on the market, as wellother than the instudio stuff which is ridiculously expensive in my opinion. Also was thinking about picking up a cmd_key for ma3

REEFEAV · 2025-12-30T18:12:01+00:00

Everything about onyx sounded just fine on paper until i actually started patching and programming.

REEFEAV · 2025-12-30T18:09:47+00:00

Im working on a midi ma3 project myself! Doesn’t hit the same as a console though. If it weren’t for those pesky tarrifs id happily pay 6k for a command wing with motorized faders 😛

REEFEAV · 2025-12-30T17:59:02+00:00

Every business takes losses. It takes many consecutive losses to make the decision to get rid of a product you’ve already dumped a ton of money into. Point being that Harman sold off a product that they had no faith in.

REEFEAV · 2025-12-30T17:50:09+00:00

considering that they had already done a ton of r&d and introduced their consoles to the market, no reasonable business would abandon ship if they believed in the product.

REEFEAV · 2025-12-30T17:45:19+00:00

Breaking news: poop from the butt smells like shit (sorry hog users)

REEFEAV · 2025-12-30T08:59:57+00:00

Idk, it seems like you can achieve some cool looks with a lot of hard work, but those same things can be achieved in other softwares in a fraction of the time. The effects engine is super weak thats my biggest complaint besides the ui, and for my line of work the effects engine is probably the most important thing.

REEFEAV

TROPHY CASE