by Allan Reiss, product manager for CHAUVET®

One of the highlights of my trip to the 2011 DJ Expo was hosting two ShowXpress seminars: SX Education 101 and SX Education 201. For those not familiar with ShowXpress, it’s a software program that turns almost any computer into a lighting console. You should’ve seen all the jaws drop when I informed them I was running all the lights on the main stage from my smart phone! (It’s also available as an app for most hand-held devices.) It was awesome to hear people say, “Oooooooh! I didn’t know you could do that!” 

Attendants were encouraged to bring their laptops so they could navigate the program as I went through its different components. For live lighting examples, we set up the following fixtures in the room: four COLORrail wash lights, two Gobo Zoom LED effect lights, eight Intimidator Spot LED 150 moving heads and 12 SlimPAR 56 LED PARS mounted on Satellite D-Fi battery packs.  Both seminars were packed with inquisitive DJs who were fascinated with the program capabilities. I answered a ton of great questions with the funniest being, “can the software control my wife?”

The seminars were broken up into two sections: SX Education 101 for the beginner and SX Education 201 for more advanced training. For those of you who were not able to attend, this is what you missed.

SX Education 101
I gave an overview of the software and discussed the following topics:
 *installation and drivers
 *setup and fixture profiles
 *navigating editor and fixture groups
 *syncing lights with music and video
 *playing back your scenes
 *uploading to the interface

SX Education 201
This was a little more in depth as I discussed the following topics:
 *creating fixture profiles
 *layering and macros
 *triggering with MIDI
 *managing multiple light shows and universes
 *configuring and using the wireless application for your iPhone or Android device
 *using the generator which creates complex scenes with ease

Afterwards, we drew names and the selected attendants won either a MiN Laser FX or a limited edition CHAUVET® t-shirt. 

Overall, I think the ShowXpress seminars were a big success.  It was a huge benefit to be one-on-one with people who actually use the product. It definitely got the wheels turning and gave me some ideas for next year!

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCr73V0zwyY&feature=youtu.be]