Frostburg State University
The Lane University Center at Maryland’s Frostburg State University has invested in Jands’ feature-rich Vista T2 lighting and media console to provide intuitive and powerful control for its rapidly expanding schedule of events.
The Center – which prides itself on offering ‘state of the art event spaces to the students, staff, and the local community’ – is utilising the all-in-one Vista T2 to control an increasing inventory of LED and moving head fixtures.
“We required a console that was effortless to set up, offered a simple-to-master interface with easily accessible controls, and which excelled at live control,” says Austin Huot, Lane University Center’s Assistant Director. “We were sold from the moment we saw the Vista T2 console and were able to have multiple fixtures patched with effects executed in seconds.”
In addition to weddings, live music, and other events, a major party at the University is the monthly ‘Late @ Lane’, when the entire Center is transformed into a nightclub-style venue. For these events, the Vista T2 controls all of the lighting technology for the public lobby and lounge spaces.
“The Vista T2 is our go-to console for our rig, which currently includes Martin and Robe moving lights, as well as Chroma-Q® and Color Kinetics LED fixtures,” says Austin. “Vista is the console of choice amongst our student technical services team and has excelled in one of the core roles that initiated this investment.”
At the heart of the T2 is Vista’s intuitive and visual Vista v2 software interface. Jands designed the Vista’s v2 software to cope with the ever changing demands of lighting, LED, and media server use in a way that makes it simple for all levels of lighting designer – including lighting students. The accuracy and simplicity of the information makes sense of even the most complex shows, so lighting designers can concentrate on lighting rather than on programming.
“One of the most impressive apects of the Vista T2 is how intuitive it is to use,” says Austin. “Our operation relies on student employees who often embark on their career as a member of our technical services team with limited knowledge and context of lighting technology. The patch, fixture chooser, timeline, color picker, and Smart FX features of the Vista software have helped the team here pick up the skills they need fast.”
The University saw the Vista T2 as an easy to learn, powerful, yet simplistic lighting and media control console able to be used by volunteer and student staff, but that would also impress an established lighting designer.
Staff at Lane University Center agree: “The Vista T2 has one of the easiest user interfaces of any console on the market, allowing even our less experienced personnel to be able to develop fantastic light shows with ease,” says Andy Krehbiel, Lighting Designer, LUC Technical Services. Stephen Kuhn, Student Tech Manager, comments: “Almost anyone can be placed at the reins of the T2 and with minimal guidance have complex looks and various cues created.”
Austin concludes: “The Vista T2 has surpassed our expectations by eliminating the learning barriers that previously delayed the development of students, helping them to feel confident in their role as a lighting designer or console operator for our events.”
The Vista T2 was supplied to the University by Matt Williams of BMI Supply of Queensbury, NY who worked closely with Jands North American distributor, A.C. Lighting Inc.
Gallery – click to enlarge
The Vista range includes a choice of portable, flexible control surfaces which connect to the Vista v2 software running natively on a Mac or on a PC, and which are customisable with a variety of DMX channel options. In addition, there’s a choice of consoles running the same v2 software in a convenient self contained hardware package.
Jands’ award-winning Vista lighting & media control system has been embraced by leading designers, companies and venues all over the world on a wide range of shows. Covering entertainment, education & drama, installations, corporate, events and worship, there’s a Vista system to suit all levels of user and almost any scale of show.
Recent shows featuring lighting or media control by Vista include ‘The Smiler’ Rollercoaster launch at Alton Towers (UK) Resort, and international concert tours by Peter Gabriel, Fall Out Boy, Bloc Party, Deftones, Dierks Bentley and Little Big Town.
To arrange a Jands Vista demo or discuss your requirements, call your nearest distributor or for more information and a list of international Vista users, visit www.jands.com/vista/users.
Leave a Reply