Editing Stage lighting (section)

=== Lighting controls ===
{{Main|Lighting control console}}
[[File:GrandMA2 Full Size.png|alt=|left|thumb|MA Lighting's grandMA2 Full Size console]]

Lighting control tools might best be described as anything that changes the quality of the light. Historically this has been done by the use of intensity control. Technological advancements have made intensity control relatively simple - solid state dimmers are controlled by one or more lighting controllers. Controllers are commonly lighting consoles designed for sophisticated control over very large numbers of dimmers or luminaires, but may be simpler devices which play back stored sequences of lighting states with minimal user interfaces. Consoles are also referred to as lighting desks or light-boards.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Gillette
| first = J. Michael
| title = Designing With Light: An Introduction to Stage Lighting, Fourth Edition
| isbn = 978-0-7674-2733-3
| publisher = [[McGraw Hill]]
| pages = 95, 97, 100–102
| year = 2003
}}</ref>

For larger shows or installations, multiple consoles are sometimes used together and in some cases lighting controllers are combined or coordinated with controllers for sound, automated scenery, pyrotechnics and other effects to provide total automation of the entire show, using a specific branch of MIDI technology called MSC (MIDI show control). See [[show control]].

The lighting controller is connected to the dimmers (or directly to automated luminaires) using a control cable or wireless link (e.g. [[DMX512]]) or network, allowing the dimmers which are bulky, hot and sometimes noisy, to be positioned away from the stage and audience and allowing automated luminaires to be positioned wherever necessary. In addition to DMX512, newer control connections include [[RDM (lighting)|RDM]] (remote device management) which adds management and status feedback capabilities to devices which use it while maintaining compatibility with DMX512; and [[Architecture for Control Networks]] (ACN) which is a fully featured multiple controller networking protocol. These allow the possibility of feedback of position, state or fault conditions from units, whilst allowing much more detailed control of them.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Gillette
| first = J. Michael
| title = Designing With Light: An Introduction to Stage Lighting, Fourth Edition
| isbn = 978-0-7674-2733-3
| publisher = [[McGraw Hill]]
| pages = 96
| year = 2003
}}</ref>