ChamSys console steals the show

For 2019’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Shanghai, lighting designer Nick Ho and his colleagues set up laser software with the ChamSys Magic MQ60 console.

‘For the past few years of the MWC event, I have programmed the conference’s opening stinger (the walk-up music for the speaker introduction) with lights,’ said Ho. ‘This year, my client decided to build this show around laser fixtures. We had to use Pangolin Beyond software. Now, my MQ60 receives Timecode via SMPTE LTC, but our Pangolin was not able to receive LTC due to the short notice we were given, which left us no time to prepare the LTC convert for Pangolin.’

With the help of his colleagues, MQ60 programmer Justin Poh and Wang Lin, the programmer of Pangolin Beyond, Ho was able to put on an eight universe show for the crowd. ‘Everyone was very pleased with how this show turned out,’ said Ho. ‘There was a lot of movement, colour, intensity and multiple layers of looks. It represented the creative spirit of the conference. To blend laser and lighting with different cues and timing was interesting and challenging. I wrote all the cues, Justin programmed them in the MQ60, and our laser assistant Wang programmed in Pangolin Beyond. I then did the final timecode touch up and operated the ChamSys console on the show days. It all went very smoothly.’

Despite the continuous use of programming throughout the event, Ho and the team were able to keep up with this demand with the help of the MQ60’s user friendly, compact design. ‘Those who use it know that the MQ60 is very mobile and compact,’ said Ho. ‘This was invaluable to us. For three days, we left the show floor with an hour of programming time remaining to be done. Not a problem – we just brought our ChamSys back to the hotel to finish the programming.’