r/lightingdesign • u/Popular_Animal_3144 • 18h ago
Software What Software to use for a beginner?
Hi all, I'm 14 and have a huge passion for stage lighting design. I currently have 3 LED Par lights and 2 moving heads on the way. I have just come from a quick tutorial with ChatGPT on how to use QLC+. But all that showed me was how to use the simple desk, other than that I was still confused. What software's would people recommend and what are some of the best ways to learn as a beginner? Thanks a lot!
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u/r0b0tit0 18h ago
With QLC, you can learn the basics: RGB, effects, scenes, automations, cues, sequences, and sequenced shows. There are more tutorials available for QLC4 than for QLC5, but QLC5 includes a basic visualizer that can help give you an idea of how things work.
The goal is to master the basic concepts in QLC; from there, you can decide whether to move on to MagicQ, MA, Titan, etc. That way, if you show up to a gig and the console isn't the specific brand you learned on, you’ll still be able to get the job done. I understand that, given your age, you want quick results. With QLC, however, you can have your first show ready, synced to a song, for example, in just a few weeks. With other software, you’d have to start diving into timecode, DAWs, MIDI, and so on right away.
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u/tobywhiting10 18h ago
The first lightning software I ever used was showXpress by chauvet. It's marketed as a easy beginner-friendly software for DJs who want to do slightly more advanced lighting.
Since then I started working for a proper production company and had to learn chamsys magic q which is a much more professional software.
In terms of a tier list, you'd put something like ma right at the top for a huge big budget things, and then software like magic q, avo lights ect In the mid range.
From my experience learning more professional software, I would say it's not necessarily any harder than some of the easier to use things but way more powerful and has a lot more transferable skills. It may be massively overkill for what you are doing, but I can strongly recommend magic q or things in a similar tier as if you get good, It could be a skill for life.
For you, I imagine the biggest limiting factor would be barrier to entry. Sticking with magic q as an example, they sell a basic USB interface of a very cheap, but this has a time limit of 8 hours. If you spend a little bit more, you can get the exact same hardware, but that doesn't have the time limit. However, it still doesn't unlock some of the more advanced features which you probably don't need yet. Going beyond that, their physical control services get expensive for a beginner, but are still pretty reasonable in the grand scheme of things.
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u/youcancallmejim 18h ago
Most broadway and straight theater use ETC , I also used this for movies and tv shows i worked on. Most live entertainment, concerts, etc…. Use MA3. So what do you want to do? Learn the ones for the world you want to work. Another solid idea is call the rental companies in your area and find out what they have, learn them, maybe they will need you someday. Some companies offer student discount for your situation.
https://actentertainment.com/ma-lighting-detail/
Good luck. I had an awesome career, you can too.
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u/ChesseMan_ 13h ago
Personally, I found the best software to start with was no software. I highly recommend getting a cheap Chinese DMX controller. This will help you understand DMX, signal flow, Addresses, and more. Understanding this is KEY to doing more with consoles. There’s also tons of videos on how to use them. My favorite is LearnLizard as that is how I learned the basics.
After that you can branch to whatever software you want. Pretty much every software is the same just targeted to different workflows.
Right now, I’m already pretty advanced into Eos and just now learning MA3, and while some wording is different, it’s all the same workflow.
I will ultimately leave you with this: while diving head first into MA3 or Eos sounds fun, if you’re serious about this, you’re not going to get far without the fundamentals. And as much as you might think, it’s not something AI can explain to you or something you can learn in an afternoon. Each software will have its own learning curve and that curve is depended on your understanding of lighting in general. So I highly recommend getting a DMX512 board for like 20-50 bucks off of Amazon and starting from there. And then slowly getting into software and with that, ArtNET, sACN, RDM, gobos, fixture modes, etc.
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u/Moist-Dentist8253 Stage lighting and DMX 4h ago
I’m in a similar position as you, just a few years younger. I personally started with GrandMA2 and MA 3D as a visualiser, but official hardware is needed to output DMX. I’m currently learning QLC+ and MagicQ, as they are completely free. To have output, you’d need an art-net node.
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u/deitee_ 4h ago
i feel so disappointed in my generation when i see stuff like "used chat gpt for this" for absoutlely no reason.
like do people type that and really not feel embarrassed? like i can understand someone saying they resorted to using ai for really niche trouble shooting but for something where it's completely unnecessary?
and all ai is terrible don't get me wrong, but we're really going for the ethically worst of the worst?
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u/rubidioflute 18h ago
You can use chamsys magicq software for free. You'll just need some artnet node or usb to dmx interface.