About two years ago, the National began the process of trialling a range of desks across six different manufacturers. Each desk was tried out and formally evaluated before a final decision was made. Lighting resources manager Michael Atkinson says: "We knew that whatever we went for, it was always going to perform differently to its predecessor. It is a huge undertaking to update all three theatres with something all the staff like - each venue needs a main desk and backup, plus there is associated hardware which needs to be changed."
Eventually, Michael settled on ETC's Eos product family: initially five Eos desks, three of its smaller sibling, Ion, and four remote processor units for backup - plus another Ion for off site shows such as Warhorse, which has just moved to the West End. In time, the National also intends to purchase a further two Eos systems for use by the video department and another for touring.
"We really liked the fact that we are using a desk at the beginning of its product life cycle, and are able to influence its development," he adds. "By sending feedback to the product team, we've been able to tell those working on the software how we think it should work - and some of those ideas have been included in software updates."
Control supervisor Sarah Brown has moved from her previous position as a lighting programmer to being responsible for training all the staff in the use of the Eos. "While I was an operator," she explains, "I was approached to ask what I thought of the desk - and I really liked the way it works. Our previous desks had reached the limits of their capabilities, and were taking far too long to load show files. With up to three shows running in the repertoire, this was threatening to cause major headaches - plus they were struggling to control the 100 moving lights we might use in our largest theatre, the Olivier.
"It's been a relatively easy transition from our previous desk, because the programming styles have some similarities. There are many things we can do on the Eos which we couldn't do on the previous desk; and a few things we can't do now that we used to be able to. But we were even given our own section on the ETC community forums so that we could note our concerns. That way our technicians, who all work different times, could share information with each other and with ETC's support people."
The National's two larger theatres, the Olivier and the Lyttelton, have been using the Eos for a few months now, with the smallest, the Cottesloe, due to change over later this year.
"Each of the technicians here has worked on a range of desks," continues Sarah, "and they've all been surprised at how easy the transition to Eos has been. We all feel that ETC is listening to us and receptive to what we've been saying."
(Claire Beeson)
