Founded in 1990, High Noon Stage Productions has provided exceptional services to the industry for over 30 years. Based in Brisbane, they can easily service all of South East Queensland and beyond.
Despite the ever-present threat of Covid-19, High Noon found themselves very busy at the start of spring last year and owner Dyke Dunning was badgered by his staff to purchase a new console!
“The majority of our shows are between 40 and 100 movers so we didn’t need a full-size console and the MA Lighting MA3 onPC command wing XT was perfect,” commented Dyke.
The grandMA3 onPC command wing XT is the grandMA3 onPC console solution. With the grandMA3 onPC software pre-installed on the built-in, genuine MA motherboard, the grandMA3 onPC command wing XT is a 4,096 parameter console that can be used in nearly any location – just add a touchscreen monitor, and it´s ready to go!
Dyke has five full-time staff upon who he lavishes praise and they all stuck with him through the bleaker Covid-19 months. Senior Lighting Designer / Operator Dan Sharp is in his element getting to know the MA3 onPC command wing XT.
“What I especially like is that unlike the PC wing it doesn’t need a computer as its all built-in,” he said. “So when we rock up to a show, we just add a touchscreen to it and off it goes. It really is plug and play.”
Designed as the perfect tourable hardware solution to the grandMA3 onPC software, the grandMA3 onPC command wing XT enables the look and feel of the software to be as close to a real grandMA3 console as possible.
“The hardware it ships with is very high quality but you’d expect that from MA,” added Dan.
Thanks to the grandMA3 onPC command wing XT incorporating the command section of the grandMA3 consoles, it has never been easier to use the grandMA3 onPC software. All inputs and outputs of a grandMA3 console are available to the user. DMX, Midi, Ethernet, Timecode and Remote Control are all on hand directly at the grandMA3 onPC command wing XT. Additionally, it comes with four individual monitor outputs and two Gigabit Ethernet connectors.
“In my opinion, it’s a good step up from the MA2 and the software has definitely stepped up particularly the effects engine and the layout of the software,” commented Dan. “It feels much more intuitive to use. I found MA2 software bewildering at first and you could easily get lost. However, with MA3, I feel its cut back until you actually want to get into the advanced stuff.”
With 40 physical playbacks, 16 assignable x-keys and a dedicated master playback section the grandMA3 onPC command wing XT provides plenty of playback options.
“The wing has a lot more physical playbacks on it compared to the MA2 version including motorised faders,” said Dan. “It makes it a lot more usable straight out of the box to run a show. You can lay it out a lot easier than the MA2 and run a show a lot more comfortably.
“I felt the MA2 onPC command wing lacked a lot of playback and you were quite confined when it came to running a show on it. Our grandMA3 onPC command wing XT can do eight universes out which is great for the size of shows we do, and you can lay it out a lot more freely as you don’t have to rely on more screens or put more stuff over pages.”
The grandMA3 onPC command wing XT provides the maximum amount of parameters available for grandMA3 onPC solutions: 4,096 parameters with built-in 2 DMX outputs and 2 Ethernet Gigabit connectors for DMX over Ethernet protocols.
