{mosreview}manufacturer=Chamsys/product=MQ100/price=7995/website=www.chamsys.co.uk/score=4.5{/mosreview}

I spend a lot of time in theatres using traditional consoles, and I'm most at home with theatre-style playbacks and command line channel access. At the same time, I find I'm increasingly making use of intelligent lights, and running events where the need to "busk" complex looks and bunches of attributes quickly is paramount.

In evaluating many different software-based packages, many seem to be too DJ-oriented, placing too much emphasis on moving lights (or not enough). Some also lack the "hands on" option of connecting faders and wheels, which I find difficult to work quickly without. Even some physical consoles struggle in fundamental areas like screen display, or in command/channel and theatre playback operation.

There didn't seem to be a lighting console designed for both core theatre and live event work, which had a decent interface and was reasonably priced, until I came across Chamsys at PLASA - and within minutes I was hooked. It seemed to be the ideal mix that I was looking for, and after several months of using the PC version, I finally got my hands on their mid-range console, the MQ100, to run our main stage at Protechnical 2006.

Set-Up and First Impressions

The MQ100 arrived complete with all the usual accessories like keyboard, mouse and XLR lights. No paper manual was included, although one is available for download, and the desk features comprehensive help. Chamsys' systems can be supplied to order with several DMX configurations, either built-in or external, and will support up to 12 universes via ArtNet or Pathport. The version I used came with an external ArtNet DMX interface and 3 Universe outputs.

The first thing that struck me on opening the box was how compact a machine the MQ100 actually is - it weighed in at under 20Kgs in total, much of which seemed to be the packaging in which it arrived. Even in box, it fitted into a small hatchback, and could comfortably be carried by one person. Installation was effortless - all connections were self explanatory, and the console worked straight out of the box.

Build quality was excellent, with solid aluminium rotary encoders and quality switchgear, clearly laid out in sensible groupings set into a smart blue anodised casing. Personally I would have preferred a little more weight to the faders, but they are well set up for "snap" operations in a busking environment. The touch screen interface used to control most software functions was clear and responsive, although I felt it would benefit from being set at a separate, steeper angle from the rest of the desk.

There were some very nice touches that speak volumes about Chamsys' attention to detail. I particularly liked the padded wrist rest along the front of the console which doubled as a storage compartment!

Software / Operating System

Chamsys' consoles run embedded Linux, and their custom-written software, MagicQ. You can download a copy to try from Chamsys' web site (www.chamsys.co.uk). The version you download ("MagicQ PC") is identical to the software running on the desks, and emulates all the buttons and sliders on the console itself. Surprisingly, it's free - and it actually works (in a practical sense). You can attach a £50 DMX interface into the back of your PC and - presto - it becomes a fully operational MagicQ console. There's no time limit and the software isn't crippled in any way. Chamsys say they do this because the software is the best possible advert for their consoles, and having used it for several months prior to getting my hands on the actual hardware, I have to agree. While it's no replacement for the full professional desks with solid hardware and physical controls, it is a great way to learn, and enabled me to pre-plot much of the show on my laptop. Transferring the show from my PC was simple using a standard USB stick, and boot from cold was speedy, at around 30 seconds.

Patching

The first step is to tell MagicQ what fixtures you're using. The MagicQ comes preloaded with a large library of fixture personalities. You hit the [Patch] button and the [Choose Head] soft key. MagicQ presents you with a list of Manufacturers - you just touch the make of your fixture [Robe] then the model [1200 Spot]. You can control exactly where in the DMX universe your fixtures appear, P/T inversion etc. but mostly I just pressed [Patch It] and they were automatically added in the most convenient place.

The fixture library was fairly comprehensive, and contained personalities for most touring and semi-professional kit. Adding new personalities is relatively straightforward, and can be done directly on the desk. I was able to create a personality for a 16ch Robe LED Blinder in about 5 minutes with just one attempt. My only criticism is the slightly awkward method of assigning channels to controls by code number. Although there is online help that tells you which number code identifies the correct attribute type/controller combination, this really should be taken care with a "picker" or similar screen device.

Busking

From that point, the MagicQ really came alive. MagicQ uses a totally intuitive Palette system for Intensity, Position, Colour, and Beam attributes. The built-in fixture libraries contained extensive pre-written palettes, and automatically set themselves up in Groups of the same type. You can have any or all of the attribute windows open on the screen at once, and as a result with no programming at all, I was able to establish a complete look directly after having turned on the desk and patched a fixture:

("All Spot 1200") ("All to Full") ("Center") ("Red") ("Gobo 1")

If you were in a headlong rush, it would be possible to run a live event just by switching between the preset palettes, and indeed the software has several neat tricks to support that mode of working. Hitting [5] before choosing a palette entry, for example, brings in that attribute over 5 seconds.

I really did find it astonishing how much worked as if by "magic" from the very start. Chamsys have clearly put a lot of thought into building their fixture libraries, and as a result the desk knows how to send [Lamp On] to a 1200 Wash and which Gobo value means [Gobo 2] on a Mac 500, etc. No more referring back to cryptic DMX charts - everything is already labelled on the relevant attribute controls, which saved me hours of time and endless frustration.

Effects and Shape Generator

Anyone who is used to the tedious business of manually plotting each position in an effect, will love the "FX" generator. Hit (Add FX) (Circle) - and instantly all of the selected fixtures start to move in a circle. The system puts the controls to tweak effect parameters (like size and speed) immediately to hand onto the rotary encoders, and effects could be added on top of each other to build complex looks very simply. Once I found combinations of Fx and parameters that I liked, I could save them onto palettes for quick recall, and again play them back live.

Programming and Plotting

Basic programming was straightforward. Hit Record, then choose a location, either one of the 10 "hard" playbacks associated with the physical faders on the desk (you can have 100 pages of these) or any of the "soft" playbacks or cue stores - the desk will store up to 5000 individual cues. Each playback can contain a single cue or a "stack" of them, and each cue can contain specific attributes (to change just colours, for example), or a complete state including Fx. Plotting channel levels can be done either at the traditional command line (e.g. 1 THRU 20 @ 55) or via the touch screen.

At all times, it was very easy to see what the desk was doing, and what was about to be recorded. MagicQ also avoids using any touch screen menus or elements which require pen-sized operation - for the fat fingered (like me!) this is a blessing. In particular, for fixtures using RGB or CMY mixing, you can instantly call up a colourful palette of keys labelled with the correct Lee and Rosco gel numbers for whatever fixtures are currently selected.

Various views by channel or by head are possible, including powerful thumbnail views of media server content from Hippotiser/Arkaos systems. There's also a "stage plan" view to which you can apparently assign icons for the fixtures themselves. I must admit even after reading the help screens, setting that up was beyond my ability, so that feature went untested!

The desk can be configured to run with a "theatre-style" playback, including a traditional Go button and A-B faders, and unusually, this can be easily combined with "rock-style" playback mode operation. MagicQ's programming capabilities are enormously powerful, and I was continually finding quicker ways to do things. At that point, I really did need to look at the manual, simply because otherwise you miss out on much of the console's potential. The nature of the software means that almost every single element of desk operation is configurable, down to exactly what each fader and button does. While you can quite happily crack on and do without knowing any of this, I was impressed by the sheer depth and breadth of the software's capability.

Support and Reliability

The most obvious source of help is the online manual, which is clear, and well written, if somewhat dry. The console contains a built-in version accessible at any time via the [Help] hard key, and is searchable with hyperlinks and cross-references throughout. Although there is a contents page and an excellent quick start guide, none of the help seemed to be context sensitive.

In operation, the console proved to be robust and survived the usual set-up power glitches and button mashing without fault. I liked the built in UPS too, and although it would have been more useful if it had also powered the external DMX output device, it did allow plenty of time to save the show and shut down gracefully (or find another power socket).

I encountered a strange situation early on when it appeared to loose control over the screen and mouse. This was quickly identified by Chamsys as having been caused by incorrect touch screen calibration (no doubt caused by the aforementioned user button mashing), and was resolved by pressing [Setup] [Cal Touch]. This was the only "issue" I came across, and it was caused by user error - any other problems I had were due to fixture setup or DMX wiring.

Chamsys' support was unmatched throughout. In the week before the show, I came across an unusual combination of events which could cause my PC version to glitch. Within 30 minutes, Chamsys had emailed me confirming they were able to duplicate the problem, and it was fixed and available on their public release almost immediately - as a console user I could have downloaded a fix there and then.

Overall Summary

There are some design issues which could be addressed in future versions. The touch screen interface, while intuitive and efficient, is not especially pretty. The hardware buttons, particularly major functions like Record and "Big Go" could do with being fully illuminated for dark room use, especially since the XLR lights supplied would not bend fully, and lit the operator more than the desk!

These are minor gripes though, and some aspect of the phenomenally powerful MagicQ series should be in every LD's flight case. I particularly like the fact that an aspiring freelancer can start using MagicQ for free, and add modular control surfaces like playbacks as needed - building up to a fully featured console in stages as his or her career progresses.

The support I received from Chamsys throughout was friendly and responsive, and the desk itself was solid as a rock and a joy to use. Quite simply the best all-round console I have worked with, and unbeatable for the price.