Obsidian NX4 control ease for Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day concert posted: 17/07/2020
Pierre Roy turns to intuitive Onyx control platform for online holiday show by Martin Deschamps and guests
Canadian lighting designer Pierre Roy has toured extensively over a 30-year career as well as handled lighting duties for a number of artists in his own hometown of Quebec. For this year's Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, he lit a special Facebook Live concert by one of the top rock artists in Quebec, Martin Deschamps, using an Elation rig directed by an Obsidian Control Systems NX4 console, a lighting control platform Roy has worked with for much of his career.
Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day is one of the most important holidays in Quebec and across French Canada, a day to proudly display the region's fleur-de-lys flag and celebrate its Francophone identity with parades and outdoor concerts. With a storm in the forecast however, the Martin Deschamps show was moved indoors, on very short notice, to the Rolland-Brunelle Cultural Center in Joliette, Quebec. Although the 24-hour notification meant a bit of unexpected work for Roy, he was undeterred as he knows Deschamps well, having done three albums with him and is scheduled to light his upcoming tour.
Roy not only knows the music well, he knew he'd be able to quickly transfer his design to accommodate the new venue's lighting rig. I had a previous Saint-Jean Baptiste show already programmed and although I didn't have the same lighting gear in the new venue it was easy for me to update the show and all my cues, Roy said. There is a feature in the NX4 called cloning and swapping that allowed me to choose the fixtures on my regular show and replace them with the new fixtures. It's really quick and all my cues are still there as before. Instead of building a show with 400 cues over several hours, it took me a few minutes to change everything over. I didn't have to start from scratch, and didn't have time for that anyway.
Despite the fact that Obsidian Control Systems has only existed for a couple of years, Roy has a long history with the platform from back when it was the M-Series. I actually started with the Maxxyz console prior to the M-Series so I've known the development team for many years. I was an M-Series user for a long time, and then transitioned over to Obsidian and Onyx, he said, noting that he had input into the development and design of the M1 console and its software. I was involved with it from the beginning and eventually purchased one and became an expert. I eventually did trainings on the console and when Obsidian took over continue to do trainings on NX and Onyx through Elation distributor SF Marketing here in Canada. SF Marketing supplied the NX4 board for the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day show.
Roy calls the NX4 his go-to board and says for him it's a no brainer decision to use the console. When you look at some other lighting boards, they look like a complicated airline flight panel and can be quite intimidating. The NX panel doesn't scare you. The setup is logical and easy to overview and because it's easier and not so intimidating, people tend to work better with it and try new things. It's also small and easy to handle on the road by yourself.
Roy explains that he rarely starts a show from scratch but works from a default show of about 50 fixtures where all the presets are already done - intensity, colors, gobos, pan and tilt, focus, etc. When I start, I just patch all my fixtures on my new show and clone the fixtures from the default show. All my presets are then automatically done. The approach served him well on the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day show where he used a light plot from a previous Martin Deschamps show to control a rig of Elation SixPar 300IP and Elation Arena Par Zoom lights along with Lekos and ACLs. The show was broadcast on Facebook Live on June 23rd and featured Martin Deschamps along with guests Nanette Workman, Breen LeBoeuf, Reney Ray, Marco Calliari, and Lou Granger-Deschamps.
There is another aspect of the NX console that Roy enjoys, one he calls a game changer. There is a pixel composer inside the console called Dylos and it is really unique. With Dylos, you don't need to have a media server on the side with a lot of presets. Dylos makes it easy. In fact, the first time I used it, it took me only a few minutes to figure out how it worked, and that was without even having to ask! It's very logical and people are amazed how simple it is. Integrated into the Onyx platform, Dylos is an intuitive toolset of media composition, effects, animations, and text generators that isn't overly technical and eases the creative process. Although Roy didn't have the chance to use Dylos on the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day show, he has used it to enhance past shows and says he finds it gives a better look. Before, I would use FX but that always looked a bit robotic. With Dylos you get a more natural movement that looks just perfect.
About Elation Professional
Based in California with facilities in Florida and Mexico City, as well as European offices in The Netherlands, Elation designs and manufactures a comprehensive range of innovative lighting and video products known for its superior performance, excellent efficiency, and outstanding price:value ratio, all backed by a hard-earned reputation for Total Support. Through nearly three decades of intelligent lighting development, our mission has always been simple: to provide best-in-class products and service while offering the best value:performance ratio in the industry, helping show designers and producers achieve their vision. From discharge to LED, intelligent to conventional, Elation products continue to be a part of the industry's most exciting projects across the globe and our list of references
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
01/12/2025
L3Harris and PentenAmio formalise their teaming agreement at MilCIS 2025, streng...
01/12/2025
Artemis II is NASA's first crewed flight test of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. The crew, from left: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Vic...
01/12/2025
IRVINE, Calif. Wooden Camera has introduced its new Accessory Collection for the Canon EOS C50. The new lineup includes a low-profile, gimbal-ready cage, expand...
01/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for its Dec. 18 Open Commission Meeting that will include a vote on a report an...
01/12/2025
In most years, a graph of annual local TV ad spending is about as predictable as an electrocardiogram of a reasonably healthy patient in a doctor's office. ...
01/12/2025
Many industries have seen big-ticket hardware turn into software. Switchers, though, demand a combination of real-time performance and sheer bandwidth that has ...
01/12/2025
GENEVA Shanghai will host the next quadrennial Radiocommunication Assembly (RA-27) and World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-27), Oct. 11-Nov. 12, 2027. This...
01/12/2025
NEW YORK Just in time for Giving Tuesday tomorrow (Dec. 2), the Broadcasters Foundation of America is seeking out donations to help television and radio industr...
01/12/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Net Insight CEO Crister Fritzson has informed the company's board that he will retire from the video transport and media cloud technology ...
01/12/2025
01 Dec 2025
Kyivstar and Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation Select Go...
01/12/2025
The prequel to the global hit Sky Original mob crime saga, Gomorrah' is a s...
01/12/2025
Featuring Florence Welch, Red Hot Chilli Peppers' Flea, designer Bella Freud...
01/12/2025
Back to All News
A Down to Earth, All Too Relatable Hero: Cashero' Teaser ...
01/12/2025
In the rush to deliver content to every screen, many broadcasters overlook one of the most crucial steps in the workflow: format and frame rate conversion. Get ...
01/12/2025
Fox Corporation Chief Financial Officer Steve Tomsic to Participate in Upcoming ...
01/12/2025
Arvato Systems' Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) Receives BSI C5 Certification (T...
01/12/2025
Summary This short video gives you an summary of the changes in under two minutes.
--...
01/12/2025
As the festive season approaches, RT Supporting the Arts is proud to showcase a...
01/12/2025
Researchers worldwide rely on open-source technologies as the foundation of their work. To equip the community with the latest advancements in digital and physi...
01/12/2025
Festive specials of Christmas in Kilmainham presented by Marty Whelan, High Road Low Road, Callan Kicks the Year and Keys to My Life
Ring in the New Year with ...
01/12/2025
Architect and television presenter Hugh Wallace, best known to RT audiences as a long-serving judge on Home of the Year, has died at the age of 68.
In a state...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
Obsidian NX4 control ease for Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day concert posted: 17/07/2020 
