Control Geek

John Huntington's Show Control and Live Sound Engineering Web Page

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July 1 - John Huntington
In Quebec
July 1 - John Huntington
In Quebec
July 1 - John Huntington
In Quebec
June 27 - derekleffew on Barco Buying High End--Will This Bring Innovation (in the form of ACN) to the Lighting Industry?
June 26 - kari eythorsson on Barco Buying High End--Will This Bring Innovation (in the form of ACN) to the Lighting Industry?

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About Me

I'm John Huntington, author of Control Systems for Live Entertainment, the first book on show control and entertainment control systems. Zircon Designs is my entertainment control system and audio consulting, design and implementation firm, but Control Geek is an open, non-commercial site, including many companies and resources.

While Control Systems for Live Entertainment covers entertainment control systems for all aspects of the live entertainment industry, this site focuses on show control, technologies that allows a system designer to connect more than one show system together into a "meta" system. There are many other sites out there that cover lighting, sound, machinery, pyro, etc. This page is a clearing house for information about show control, so if I've missed anything, or you have any comments or suggestions, please let me know.

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John's Recent Articles and Other

Rebecca's Pilot Public Radio Show

My friend Rebecca overwhelmingly won the public voting for the Public Radio Talent Quest back in September. Because of the public support, she was one of the three winners of the contest. Winning meant that she got a producer and $10,000 to make an hour-long pilot, which is now online!

You can hear it here: http://www.publicradioquest.com/node/2696

More info here: http://curiosityaroused.wordpress.com/.

Rebecca did a fantastic job on the whole thing! I'm really proud of her and the whole piece, which I edited and mixed it on my computer in Adobe Audition.

There is no voting this time, but my understanding is that Rebecca's pilot and the other competitors' work will be submitted to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for consideration, or could be bought/licensed by a station or group. If you listen to and like the piece, a nice comment on the site would be great for all concerned.

The ACN Future is Here

I have an article about ACN in the September, 2007 issue of Lighting and Sound America magazine. Click here to download a copy in PDF format.

George Kindler Obituary

Sadly, my friend and colleague George Kindler died in May, 2006. Click here for an obituary I wrote for Live Design magazine.

Cirque Du Soleil 's Love

This is an article on the amazing Cirque Du Soleil production of LOVE at the Mirage in Las Vegas I wrote for Lighting and Sound America magazine. Click here to download a copy in PDF format.

Cirque Du Soleil 's Ka

This is an article on the amazing Cirque Du Soleil production of Ka at the MGM in Las Vegas I wrote for Lighting and Sound America magazine. This is a large PDF file, scanned from the magazine since they don't have this stuff on the web site yet. Click here to download a copy in PDF format.

Haunted Hotel Show Control

Information on the City Tech Haunted Hotel can be found at the official web site here. A PDF of an article I wrote bout the technology backstage for Lighting and Sound America magazine can be found here .

Showtime-When do you need a show control system?

Click here for an article Jim Janninck and I wrote for Sound and Video Contractor magazine. In the nearly 4000 word article, Jim and I explain the differences between Show Control and "Media Control" systems (like AMX and Crestron). It appears in the October 2004 issue. PDF posted here.

Let's Be Careful Out There-Thoughts from an ACN Observer

This is an article on ACN I wrote for Lighting and Sound America magazine. This is a draft PDF file (and a pretty large file), there are a few typos in this version, but it's pretty much what was published. Click here to download a copy in PDF format.

Rethinking Entertainment Technology Education

This is an article I wrote for USITT's journalTD&T on where I think entertainment technology needs to go. Click here to download a copy in PDF format. This article won USITT's Herbert D. Greggs memorial "merit" award.