What Pros Say About Wholehog
Mark "Sparky" Risk, Coldplay 2008 tour:
"I want to
convey how happy I have been
with the Wholehog 3 console - it has behaved impeccably throughout the tour
thus far & any of the fears/doubts that I may have had at
the outset have been completely laid to rest. After such an extended
period of programming, whilst I would in no way consider myself to be
100% proficient, I have found it to be extremely intuitive & am now very
comfortable using it. I shall have no qualms about using this desk again
in the future. "
Programmer Ross Williams:
"2008 has already seen another milestone reached in the Wholehog OS development with the release of some long-awaited features. The range of cross-compatible consoles now available, complete with total show portability, means there really is something for everyone regardless of show size, and all on the same familiar Operating System. Learn one console and you've learnt them all!"
Marc Janowitz:
"I've been using the Wholehog line of consoles for over 10 years. The Wholehog 3 is currently my board of choice. It will do anything I need it to in an intuitive and reliable fashion. The 'Replace Fixture' option has bailed me out of quite a few jams. The ability to program my show once with once fixture type and then continue to use that show file with any type of similar fixture is extremely valuable for the projects that I work on."
LD Richard Larkum, The Kaiser Chiefs 2008 tour:
"I'm using the Hog iPC in Hog 3 mode with a super widget. The desk is fantastic. I love it! There is absolutely no time lag from button to light. There is no going back!"
LD Benoit Richard, George Michael, Matchbox Twenty 2008:
"The Wholehog platform is so easy to learn and the fact that you can carry show files between the different types of consoles makes it extremely powerful when you switch from a touring environment to one-off gigs. It's the only race car I drive! Period."
LD Heath Marrinan, Video Games Live 2008 tour:
"I feel confident when I'm using the Wholehog 3. The console is built for the programmer/designer of today. The features that I most consistently use are there not to mention many more, and the console had made leaps and bounds as far as reliability. It is also very intuitive."
Programmer Christian Choi:
"The Wholehog platform has come to fruition, not just for the added DMX output but for the even more intuitive enhancements to a platform that was already extremely flexible and efficient. I love the Wholehog platform. I'm grateful that I can control all my fixtures, be it 100 or 1000, from one very fast desk."
“We were all pleasantly surprised with how easy the Wholehog 3 system was to plug and play. The system had to endure harsh outside temperatures with snowfall and some damp days, which thankfully it did. It ran for between 12 and 20 hours per day for well over a month. Response time and synchronous playback were both impressive across the whole rig, which was really important as the show was ‘in the round’ and opposite ends of the stadium were clearly visible at the same time. It’s not every day you get to light a show with a cast of 6,000 for an audience of 2 billion.”
Scott Barnes, Poseidon film:
“We had two Wholehog 3 consoles on the entire movie, with the exception of a couple of tiny sets. The Wholehog 3 handles it with ease. The console’s working great.”
LD Andrew Doig ,Toto world tour 2006:
“The Wholehog 3 has been a reliable platform for this show. Timing is critical in this show as it’s live music that is very live. The timing and reliability issues that hampered the product on release have been cured and it has been rock solid in playback during shows using R956. Programming for this tour was intense, (4 days, 60 hours run-time in 96 hours) and very few problems in that time.”
Programmer Hillary Knox, Zhivago:
“The Hog 3 is working well and it keeps getting better. This is the third big musical at La Jolla that I have used it on. Because of this system's architecture, I have never lost anything and I've never held up a rehearsal onstage, which is a big deal and something that I can't claim for many other consoles other than the Hog 2." Jason Cain, Gemini Stage Lighting:
“I have done many tours, conventions, corporate and fashion shows with the desk. In fact it is the ONLY desk that I use because I feel at home with it. Since Gemini purchased the Hog 3, I have logged more hours on it than anybody else in the shop. The Wholehog 3 is the easiest, most reliable, user-friendly desk that I have ever run. Period.”
LD Glen Johnson, James Blunt world tour 2006:
“With Wholehog 3, we can just add lights to the whole show without needing to reprogram; we can change the fixture from one type to another without fuss. The ‘change fixture’ feature is a HUGE day-saving feature. This then gave me time to add some extra features to this one-off. I even had more Studio Colors than our existing rig of wash lights, so a quick push of Replicate Fixtures and ‘Bob’s your Uncle!’ there and the show was updated. Hours saved and more sleep for me after an 11-hour flight!”
LD Alex Reardon, Duran Duran world tour:
"The show was extremely cue-intensive and I couldn't use a console that might slow down while running eight universes at full tilt. The remote processing through the DP2000s ensured no drop in performance at all! I’m sure that there are lots of board operators and who are thinking: 'How could you use that desk? It crashes all the time!’ Well, it doesn’t. It did, but now it is -- in my opinion-- rock solid. I found everything to be perfectly reliable. If all you do is listen to the chat without finding out for yourself then you should apply for your walker and a condo in Florida right now."
“I'm always stunned by how few people want to take chances. If we all just used the safe option, we'd all still be using Celco Golds and PAR cans! I've been singing the praises of this desk for ages now, and to the credit of the team at High End, it's now solid, user friendly, and shoves its competition into the trash."
Scott Chmielewski, Digital Media Designs:
"The networking capabilities of the Wholehog 3 worked seamlessly and allowed us to have DPs (Data Processors) in critical areas of the large soundstage.”
LD John Santos, TNT Wrestling:
"I've been using Wholehog 3 for a long time. I'm a fan of the board. It's a solid console and I'm comfortable with it. I like the quick programming keys and the 'undo' feature. The four-color screen, the color picker, gel picker and control macros are great. I like the Wholehog 3 because there are so many similarities to the Wholehog 2. I teach the programmers at Disney, and I can change someone over from Hog 2 to Hog 3 in an hour."
Programmer/Asst. LD Robb Jibson, Roll Bounce film:
“We got the Wholehog 3 in right before lunch time, patched and transferred some essential information for that day's shooting during the lunch hour and were operational on the new desk for that afternoon's shooting schedule. Even with some of the most demanding ambient temperatures issues (think of adding 400K-plus to an old building in August in Chicago) it was rock solid through the whole shoot with great reliability."
“We loved the ability to get small scenes rolling and have them already built as little building blocks from which to start cues. This helped immensely in getting large sequences going quickly. It greatly enhanced our programming time allowing us to create scenes before shooting, during the 'checking of the gate' and when the crew was at wash-up. Though this could have been done on the Hog 2 by creating simple all active state single cuelists, having a place to store these saved so much time! That combined with the two USB Playback Wings and it all worked flawlessly.”
LD Matt Finke, Loop Light Design, Swiss Stadium, Bern:
“A show of this size in a stadium like this -- built using the latest technology -- also needs the technology that gives the possibilities to run that many DMX lines over the same console, to share programming over a network to work with two operators and be able to visualize all this in a pre-programming scenario. At the end of the day it’s about reliability. I can tell you, Wholehog 3 has got it. So everyone who still is unsure, I say go for it!”
Programmer Livio Gagliardi, Cinecitta TV, Italy:
“It is one fantastic console. It has helped me a lot in programming and operation. It is simple and fast with a total control of the system. It is now five years that we have exclusively used Hog products."
Jon Griffin, Saddleback Valley Community Church:
“There's a reason I spec'd if for the show. I love working with it and all of the functions. I also wanted a console I was familiar with and knew what I could do with it for the most flexibility.”
LD Jorge Garrido Ferran, Alejandro Fernandez tour:
“The Wholehog 3 is a wonderful tool for the illuminators because it offers us possibilities that no other console has. We can replace or add fixtures once we have programmed, without altering the programming. The effects page and the modifications that can be made to these are incredible and quick to program, even for somebody who is new to programming. The window allowing us to choose colors is wonderful. Hog 3 is super compact, comfortable, easy and quick to work."
LD Phil Gilbert, corporate shows:
“It was helpful to pre-visualize my design, and the interface between the console and the software makes this a painless task. The on-screen feedback from cue lists and scenes running on virtual masters made it easy for me to be flexible when it came to giving the client the looks they wanted in a tight rehearsal schedule. Many of the smaller details of the Wholehog 3 console became more helpful. The use of real world units, especially positioning in 'degrees,' is an overlooked feature of the board. It makes it much easier to program in 'blind' mode. The console performed flawlessly.”
LD Bill O’Neil, Swank Audio Visuals:
“Six universes, 64 moving lights and 80 conventionals were all run successfully on a network with two Wholehog 3s. I have owned two Hog 3s since December 2002, and we work these consoles a lot. I have a lot of faith in them.”
Jon Greaves, Lite Alternative:
"I liked the great design and size of the Wholehog 3. I liked the 'feel' of it. I liked the color gel palettes -- what a good idea!"
LD Fernando Gordillo, Switch Lighting:
"The latest software is reliable, and I love the color-picking feature. It's excellent for matching color temperature for television."
Lighting Director Pasquale "Paco" Toscano, Tosca touring opera:
"Wholehog 3 is actually the best choice to program shows. I found it powerful because it works like a part of a network so you can have several programmers each on a Hog 3 working on the same show; similarly several shows can run on the same network. But the most beautiful thing is that I found it easy to use. In this case, Hog 3 technology is the best ally. From now I'll always try to work with a Hog 3."
LD George Tellos, Mouth to Mouth TV show:
"Wholehog 3 positively surprised us. To learn to comprehend and fully use Wholehog 3 is well worth the time and effort involved, since fully exploited it will enable the user to realize a very wide spectrum of different kinds of lighting design and programming. Hog 3 is a creative tool with almost endless possibilities."
LD Jon “Hillbilly” Weir, Southeast Christian Church:
"Having (two Wholehog 3) consoles networked together worked great during programming. We were able to quickly write the cues and get everything running perfectly. The networking was also great during rehearsals. If I noticed something that needed to be changed, I could open that cue, no matter what page it was on, or what desk it was on, modify it and get it back in the cue list. This was a huge time saver. It easily cut days off programming and rehearsal time. The staff has nothing but great things to say about the console. They are really enjoying how customizable and user-friendly it is."
Lighting Director/Board Op Werner Kokott, Top of the Pops, RTL TV:
"The Color Picker feature and the ability to easily copy programming between different fixture types makes it easy to cooperate between the LD and operator in one language and make fast changes, whenever needed.”
Lighting Director Danny Nolan, Simply Red World Tour:
"I wanted to use the Wholehog 3 mainly because of its change fixture feature, which has helped me a great deal through the summer festival leg. This feature is fantastic. From now on, whenever possible, I would spec a Hog 3. It's the logical move. It's come a long way and works well."
LD Jaakko Peltomaki:
"I've had two Hog 2s since 1996 and a Wing since 2001, so it was an obvious move to buy Hog 3, as it is ready to use now.“
LD Dave Hill, Liverpool Summer Pops:
“There was a lot of interest in the Wholehog 3 from the visiting LDs. Everybody loves the look of it. It’s a lovely desk and it IS the way forward. I’m happy with it because it’s stable now.”
Programmer Paul Rosinsky, Cannon Stage Lighting:
“My reaction to the Wholehog 3 desk was positive. The color picker for all my color-mixing Cyberlight and Studio Colors made things go so much faster. I also noticed that all the internal cues in the lights moved a good bit faster than on other desks. All in all, I was very happy with this desk and am thinking of using it on a rock tour this fall.”
Programmer Dennis Gardner, Peter Gabriel world tour:
"I love it. It’s easy to operate, edit cues and create effects. I like the way consoles can be networked together working on the same show, which is great for when we add extra lighting for a TV shoot with another operator looking after light levels."
LDs Dan Hardiman and Dave Farmer, Total Herbal Confusion:
“As company directors, we chose the Wholehog 3 to invest in (at an early stage-- almost conceptual) as it offered us a platform without limits. We needed a flexible, expandable control solution that was capable of handling the ever-changing world of intelligent lighting. As Designers, the Fixture Library features (Virtual Intensities for LED fixtures, standardization of functions, "real" parameter values, HSI capabilities) enable us to push modern lighting fixtures to new limits. As Programmers, the intuitive user interface provides easy editing functions with a minimum of keystrokes, thus minimizing time required. The replicate and change-type features alone have saved the day on many occasions when miscommunication resulted in ‘What's On Site Was Not What We Designed.’ "
LD Marty Postma, Retinal Resonance:
“The Wholehog 3 performed very well on this run of back-to-back shows. I was pleased with its performance under such a high workload, being that both these festivals were done totally on the fly. The desk has really come a long way in a short amount of time. Owning a console like this just can’t be beat. I sit at home and do pre-visualization with the Hog linked to my WYSIWYG and walk into these things 80-90% done most of the time. It allows me to bring a much higher level of quality to any show I’m designing and/or programming.”
LD Han Henze:
"It is my pleasure to report excellent results from my last show with two Hog 3s networked as server and client. I was somewhat apprehensive about controlling a system of several hundred moving lights and seven Catalysts with the two desks/four DPs but except for two oddities it worked very well. There were times when the LD was programming large groups of moving lights on his desk, I'm pounding away at Catalyst parameters, multiple playbacks active on both desks and the processing speed is all good! All displays were responsive at all times. I did find that adding a small ethernet switch FOH to make the console network helped a lot. My hat is off to everyone at HES on the console development team for making what would have taken a mountain of Hog 2s, overdrives, DMX switches and cable a couple of years ago, turn into two Hog 3s and a bit of ethernet cable."
testimonials updated July 17, 2008
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