Just a quick post to point out a cool new feature in SpikeMark — Input Actions.
Archive for category Automation
Ok, I’m actually jumping over a more intricate bug description in this post just because I find this one too much fun to pass up.
I discovered a bug in SpikeMark that would spew out erroneous log message, but only after the computer running SpikeMark had been running for 25 days or more without a reboot. Read the rest of this entry »
If you’ve been paying attention to the updates on our site, you may have noticed a flurry of activity recently. We added some new features to SpikeMark which I’ll discuss in another post, but we also have been tracking down some nasty little bugs. The latest rash of bug squashing has been centered around a theme, because multiple performances in various venues have been experiencing similar problems involving tight sequences of linked cues. Read the rest of this entry »
The Allure of Premium
Jun 4
A couple months back I had the pleasure of visiting one of the schools that is using our motion control gear. Like many schools, they use our system as just one example in a pile of automation systems. Since I fancy myself a technophile first, and businessman second, I think it is an excellent idea to have multiple flavors of automation systems available to students to learn the differences and similarities of a wide variety of systems. The philosophy behind our products is to keep the costs low and the interface simple, but this comes at the expense of some advanced features and therefore our stuff lacks some of the really cool tricks of higher end systems. Higher end systems from the big boys eschew cost in the quest to bring complicated effects to big shows.
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From the trenches
Jan 24
This past week I had the opportunity to work at the Ford’s Theatre in D.C. helping setup the system and train the crew using SpikeMark. The guys at the Ford’s have used our gear in the past, but this is their first show running SpikeMark instead of Avista so they generously hired me to come down and do a little training. The carpenters down there are all exceedingly sharp so the training was very easy, but it gave me the invaluable chance to see our system out in the wild.
If you’ve been keeping up with the updates on the website over the past month, you may have noticed that the Stagehand AC product has gotten a face-lift. While the new model isn’t a revolutionary change from the old product, it’s got a couple of nifty new features that I have been mulling over for about a year. Sometimes I want to scrap a design and start fresh…not this time. The Stagehand AC has been a very popular product and it’s basic functionality is pretty solid, so an evolutionary polishing seemed more fitting. Read the rest of this entry »