New Zealand - Ten years ago, the first of many copies of LightFactory, the PC-based control system, was put on sale. Founder and CEO Martin Searancke developed LightFactory out of a passion for the industry and a knack for writing code. Today, the control system enjoys worldwide success, which is a credit to its power and economy, as well as to the hard work of its founder and employees (one of which is his wife, Helen).
Before LightFactory, Searancke had co-founded a dot com company and then invested the profits in what was then his hobby of lighting design. Before long, the new company was thriving. The motivating factor was his search for the ideal controller. Unable to find an affordable controller with powerful features, Searancke wrote a small application called "DMX Expander," which eventually led to the development of LightFactory.
"I had purchased a small 24/48 scene desk and developed the software to provide access to the full 512 channels," he said. "The rest, as they say, is history. DMX Expander actually became LightFactory."
Working with DMX Expander made Searancke realise that the computational requirements of a lighting controller was "a walk in the park for PCs."
Searancke still designs lighting and operates several shows every year, which gives him better insight into the needs of the programmer. What he learns from these shows informs the further development of LightFactory software.
"Second to reliability," he explains, "speed of programming is the most important thing in a console. The faster you can get your show programmed, the more creative you can be and the happier the client or LD will be. I often tweak the software because I have found that programming a particular look or effect is inefficient."
His tweaks have taken the software from the first show 10 years ago, to a full-fledged, feature-rich controller. LightFactory now has more than 5500 licensed users worldwide and it's seen great success in a variety of applications from running major stadium spectaculars to local theatre pantomimes, night clubs and events, museums and architainment applications. The largest show run by LightFactory used 114 universes of DMX and ran from a single processor in a synchronised cue listed show.
Searancke says his wife calls him a "lighting geek," and he says he's okay with that. "I really am still very passionate about the industry and love hearing about the shows people use LightFactory on."